
Book -ft' 6 - 

If/O 



REPORT 



OP THE 



NEW YORK COMMISSION 



ON 



TEACHERS' SALARIES 



1910 



■ •J 





REPORT 



TO THE / 3 t 



Board of Estimate and Apportionment 



OF 



THE CITY OF NEW YORK 



BY THE 



Commission on Teachers' Salaries 



OCTOBER 17, 1910 



:\- 



»** 






MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION: 

Mr. Clinton L. Rossiter, Chairman 

Dr. Leonard P. Ayres 

Dr. Lee K. Frankel 

Mr. James M. Gifford 

Mrs. Frank H. Cothren, Secretary 



M. B. Brown Printing & Binding Co., 49 to 57 Park Place, N. Y. 



Resolution Creating the Commission On 
Teachees' Salaries. 

Introduced in the Board of Estimate and Appor- 
tionment of New York City by the President 
of the Board of Aldermen. 

Whereas, From time to time there have been 
submitted to this Board recommendations and re- 
quests for increase, equalization or adjustment of 
salaries of the teachers in the public schools of 
The City of New York, and 

Whereas ; This matter has for several years been 
under the consideration of the Legislature, and 

Whereas, The Legislature has at several recent 
sessions passed measures which, had they become 
law on the approval of the Mayor of The City of 
New York and the Governor of the State, would 
have compelled the Board of Education to adopt 
the views of the Legislature in revising the sched- 
ules of salaries paid to the teachers of The City of 
New York, and further, would have compelled 
this Board to make financial provision therefor, 
and 

Whereas, The Mayor's Commission appointed 
to consider this matter has recently reported, after 
several months of inquiry, its inability to reach 
conclusions by reason of insufficient time to secure 



adequate information and has suggested a further 
study of this matter, and 

Whereas,, Any revision or adjustment by means 
of equalization or increase in the annual rates of 
the salary schedules of the teachers of The City 
of New York will, before taking effect, come 
before this Board for its consideration in the prep- 
aration of the annual Budget, Now, Therefore, 
be it 

Resolved, That this Board do and it does hereby 
establish a commission with power to investigate 
the justice, economy and adequacy of the present 
and proposed schedules of salaries for the pay- 
ment of teachers of the Department of Educa- 
tion, the said commission to consist of five mem- 
bers; two to be appointed by the Mayor, two by 
the Comptroller, and one by the President of the 
Board of Aldermen, all to be appointed on or 
before January 21, 1910, and all to serve without 
compensation, and be it further 

Resolved, That this Commission, when ap- 
pointed, be directed to report to this Board on or 
before May 1, 1910, recommendations with re- 
spect to any revision or adjustment of the sched- 
ules of salaries for the payment of teachers of the 
Department of Education which it may deem 
proper, desirable and equitable. 

(Passed January 14, 1910,) 



CONTENTS. 

Introductory Statement 7 

Part I. — Conditions. 

Chapter I. — Day Elementary Schools 13 

Teaching Force in the Day Schools 13 

Distribution and Salaries of Teachers .... IT 

Distribution and Salaries of Principals ... 24 

Chapter II. — High, Training, Model and 

Evening Schools .- 32 

Men and Women Teachers in High 

Schools 32 

Training and Model Schools 36 

Evening Schools 37 

Part II. — Studies and Considerations. 

Chapter III. — Undesirable Multiplicity of 

Salary Schedules 43 

Chapter IV. — Concerning Salary Increases. 46 
Salaries in Other Cities Compared with 

Those in New York 46 

Upward Trend of Salaries in Other Large 

Cities 51 

The Increase in the Cost of Living 55 

Is the Beginning Wage of the New York 

Teacher a Living Wage 60 

Salary Increases on the Basis of Efficiency. 63 

The Bonus System 65 

Clerks or Additional Teachers 67 

5 



Chapter V. — Interrelation of Sex, Work and 

Pay 70 

Sex Comparisons 70 

Supply and Demand 81 

Chapter VI. — Salary for Position 91 

The Need for Men Teachers 91 

" Equal Pay " Systems in Other Large 

Cities 98 

" Equal Pay for Equal Work " 105 

Part III. — Conclusions, Schedules, Cost 
Computations and Recommendations. 

Chapter VII. — Conclusions 115 

Chapter VIII. — Schedules; Present and 

Proposed 120 

Chapter IX. — Estimated Cost 139 

Chapter X. — Recommendations . 143 



Introductory Statement. 

The members of the Commission were appointed 
as follows: Mr. Clinton L. Rossiter, Dr. Leonard 
P. Ayres, Dr. Lee K. Frankel, Mr. James M. 
Gifford and Mrs. Frank H. Cothren. 

The Commission organized on the 4th day of 
February, 1910, by electing Mr. Rossiter, Chair- 
man, and Mrs. Cothren, Secretary. After hold- 
ing several meetings, the Commission, on April 
29, 1910, submitted to the Board of Estimate and 
Apportionment a preliminary report stating that 
on account of the magnitude and importance of 
the problems under consideration, it was impos- 
sible to submit a final report by the first day of 
May and requesting an extension of time. This 
extension of time was granted. 

The Commission has held nineteen meetings and 
a public hearing at which eighteen speakers rep- 
resenting different teachers' organizations, the 
Board of Education and the Bureau of Municipal 
Research, were heard. It has held conferences 
with a committee from the Board of Education, a 
committee from the High School Principals' As- 
sociation and with numerous members of the teach- 
ing force. Careful consideration has been given to 
printed matter which has been submitted from 

7 



time to time by eighteen different teachers' organ- 
izations and also to numerous letters from teach- 
ers, citizens and different clubs and organizations 
of New York City. 

The Commission has gained valuable informa- 
tion from all of these sources, and in addition has 
visited many of the public schools, has made an 
exhaustive examination of the reports of the City 
Superintendent of Schools for the last ten years 
and of the present and proposed schedules of the 
Board of Education. The salary schedules of the 
fifty largest cities in the United States have been 
studied, letters of inquiry have been sent to 200 
of the leading educators of the country, and a 
number of important investigations in statistics 
and economies have been carried on. In all of its 
work the Commission has had the assistance of a 
statistician furnished by the Board of Estimate 
and Apportionment. 

The instructions embodied in the resolution 
creating the Commission called for " an investiga- 
tion of the justice, economy and adequacy of the 
present and proposed schedules of salaries." These 
instructions necessitated an inquiry into many 
fundamental and complex problems, and the Com- 
mission has throughout its investigation endeav- 
ored to examine and exhaust if possible all exist- 
ing material relating in any way to the subject 
under consideration. In the report herewith sub- 

8 



mitted, the aim has been to secure better conditions 
for the school child rather than economy of the 
City's resources, and greater efficiency of the 
teacher rather than increase in salary. 



PART I. 
CONDITIONS. 



CHAPTER I.— DAY ELEMENTARY 
SCHOOLS. 

The Teaching Force in the Day Schools of 
New York City. 

The teaching force in the day schools of New 
York City is composed of over 17,000 teachers, of 
whom 87 per cent, are women and only 13 per 
cent. men. In other words, there are seven women 
to every man. There are two great classes of 
schools, the elementary schools and secondary 
schools, which latter include high and training 
schools. With respect to the size of the teaching 
force, the elementary schools are much the more 
important; they include in their teaching staff 
eleven-twelfths of the entire teaching body. The 
following table, in two parts, shows how the teach- 
ers are distributed among the several classes of 
schools. 



13 



Teachers of Day Schools by Sexes in New York 
According to Budget of 1910. Part I., Reg- 
ular Elementary Teachers. 

Per Cent. 
Grade. Men. Women. Total. Women. 

Kindergarten 739 739 100 

1 1,861 1,861 100 

2 1,812 1,812 100 

3 2 1,799 1,801 100 

4 15 1,741 1,756 99 

5 86 1,582 1,668 94 

6 342 1,176 1,518 77 

7 264 987 1,251 79 

8 299 661 960 69 



Total Regular 
E 1 e m e n tary 
Teachers 1,008 12,358 13,366 92 



14 



Teachers of Day Schools by Sexes in New York 
According to Budget of 1910. Part II., All 
Other Teachers. 

Per Cent. 
Men. Women. Total Women. 

Elementary Prin- 
cipals 225 216 441 49 

Elementary As- 
sistant Princi- 
pals 19 380 399 95 

Elementary Spe- 
cial Teachers, 
etc 195 1,224 1,419 86 

High School 
Principals and 
Teachers 581 647 1,228 53 

Training School 
Principals and 
Teachers 21 144 165 87 

Parental and 
Truant School 
Principals and 
Teachers 6 6 12 50 

Total 1,047 2,617 3,664 ~71 

Total Regular 
E 1 e m e n tary 
Brought For- 
ward from Part 
1 1,008 12,358 13,366 92 

Grand Total 2,055 14,975 17,030 87 



15 



Referring first to Part I., it will be noted that 
in the lower grades of the elementary schools all 
of the teachers are women. Not until we reach the 
sixth grade do we find any considerable number 
of men, and even in the sixth, seventh and eighth 
grades the men are far outnumbered by the 
women. 

Part II. of the table shows that among the prin- 
cipals of elementary schools, the men and women 
are about equal in number. The assistants to 
principals are predominantly women, as are the 
special teachers in the elementary schools and the 
teachers of the training schools. In the teaching 
force of the high schools and the parental and 
truant schools, the men and women are found in 
substantially equal numbers. To state the matter 
in other words, among the seven grades of posi- 
tion considered, women greatly outnumber men in 
four grades, while the men and women are present 
in substantially equal numbers in the remaining 
three grades. 

Conditions may be summarized as follows : 

Women Predominating. 

Regular Elementary Teachers. 
Assistants to Principals. 
Special Teachers in Elementary Schools. 
Principals and Teachers in Training Schools. 

16 



Men and Women Substantially Equal. 

Principals, Elementary Schools. 
Principals and Teachers in High Schools. 
Principals and Teachers in Parental and Truant 
Schools. 

Distribution and Salaries of Teachers. 

There are nearly fourteen thousand separate 
class rooms in the elementary schools of New- 
York, each containing pupils of one grade and in 
charge of either a man or a woman teacher. This 
refers to regular classes only. Some of these 
classes are made up of boys, some of girls, and 
some contain both boys and girls. Roughly speak- 
ing, about one-third are made up of boys exclu- 
sively, something more than one-third are com- 
posed of girls exclusively, and less than one-third 
are mixed classes containing both boys and girls. 

In general the men teachers in the elementary 
schools teach the boys' classes, but this is by no 
means an invariable rule. Much less is it true that 
all of the boys' classes even in the highest grades 
are taught by men teachers. The distribution of 
the teachers of the two sexes among boys', girls' 
and mixed classes is shown in the following table : 



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Referring to the first two columns, it will be 
seen that in the lower grades the boys are taught 
by women, while the men teachers are confined 
almost entirely to the three higher grades. Even 
here we find that more boys' classes are taught by 
women than are taught by men, with the single 
exception of the eighth or final grade. Practically 
all of the girls' classes are taught by women, as 
are nearly all of the mixed classes. An examina- 
tion of the table reveals the important fact that the 
men teachers are relatively so few in number even 
in the higher grades, that the existing conditions 
compel a great majority of the boys entering the 
school system to leave it without ever having been 
members of classes in charge of men teachers. 
This means that the great majority of the boys of 
the elementary classes leave without ever having 
come under the influence of a man teacher unless 
it may have come about through the workings of 
the system of departmental or special teaching. 

In general, the proportion of men to women 
teachers has been increasing during the past de- 
cade, as will be seen from the following table, 
which presents facts for the secondary schools as 
well as for the elementary ones : 



19 



Men and Women Teachers (Principals not in- 
cluded) in New York City Day Schools for a 
Series of Years. From Data Supplied by the 
Department of Education. 



ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 



6 


94 


6 


94 


7 


93 


7 


93 


8 


92 


8 


92 


9 


91 


8 


92 



Per Cent. Per Cent. 
Year. Men. Women. 



1902 

1903 

1904 

1905 

1906, 

1907 

1908 

1909 



HIGH AND TRAINING SCHOOLS. 

Per Cent. Per Cent. 
Year. Men. Women. 

1902 43 57 

1903 43 57 

1904 ". 43 57 

1905 45 55 

1906... 45 55 

1907 46 54 

1908 45 55 

1909 45 55 



20 



ALL SCHOOLS. 



Per Cent. Per Cent. 
Year. Men. Women. 

1899 7 93 

1900 8 92 

1901 8 92 

1902 9 91 

1903 9 91 

1904 9 91 

1905 10 90 

1906 10 90 

1907 11 89 

1908 11 89 

1909 11 89 

The progress in the proportion of men teachers 
has been gradual but steady ever since the time 
of the consolidation of the Boroughs of the City, 
although there is evidence of a contrary tendency 
during the past two years. 



21 



Salaries. 

The regular teachers of the day elementary 
classes are paid according to five salary schedules, 
as follows: 
Women teachers of grades from 

Kindergarten through Six . . $600 to $1,240 
Women teachers of grades from 

Seven through Eight A. . . . 600 to 1,320 
Women teachers of grade Eight 

B 936 to 1,440 

Men teachers of grades through 

Eight A 900 to 2,160 

Men teachers of grade Eight B . . 1,500 to 2,400 

Two facts are noteworthy; first, that the upper 
limit of the men's schedules is nearly one thousand 
dollars higher than that of the women's schedules, 
and second, that New York pays teachers of the 
higher elementary grades considerably more than 
it does the teachers of the other grades. 

The average salary of men teachers is nearly 
$1,600, while that of the women teachers is a little 
less than $1,000. The exact figures, together with 
figures showing how the salaries are distributed 
by sexes, are shown in the following table : 



22 



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It will be noticed by referring to the first line in 
the table that practically all of the men receive 
salaries in excess of $1,000 per year, and nearly 
half of them receive over $1,500 per year. Kef er- 
ring to the second line, it will be seen, on the other 
hand, that none of the women teachers receive 
salaries exceeding $1,500, and the large majority 
of them receive less than $1,000. 

To summarize: 

1. The men teachers in the day elementary 
schools constitute about one-twelfth of the teach- 
ing force. 

2. The men teachers are mostly in the three 
upper grades, but are relatively so few in number 
that a majority of the boys leave the elementary 
schools without ever having had a man room 
teacher. 

3. There are five salary schedules for day ele- 
mentary grade teachers which provide much 
higher salaries for men than for women, and for 
teachers of the higher grades than for teachers of 
the lower grades. 

4. The proportion of men teachers is increasing. 

Distribution and Salaries or Principals. 

At the close of the school year 1908-9 there were 
in New York City 424 principals of elementary 
schools. Of these 220, or a little more than one- 
half, were men. A few of the elementary schools 

24 



contain boys exclusively; about an equal number 
contain girls exclusively, and the great majority 
of them are made up of mixed classes, in general 
the men principals are in large schools containing 
boys' classes and mixed classes, while the women 
are in charge of schools containing girls' classes 
and mixed classes. The following table shows how 
the principals are distributed among schools con- 
taining boys', girls' and mixed classes : 

Character of Day Elementary Schools in Charge 
of Men and Women Principals in New York 
According to Report of Superintendent of 
Schools for 1909. 

Men Women Per 

Prin- Prin- Cent. 

Kind of School, cipals. cipals. Total. Women. 



Boys' 26 

Girls' 

Boys' and Mixed . 25 
Girls' and Mixed . 
Mixed 169 

Total 220 



2 


28 


7 


31 


31 


100 


2 


27 


7 


46 


46 


100 


123 


292 


42 



204 



424 



Referring to the last column on the right, it 
will be seen that very few of the boys' schools are 



25 



presided over by women principals, and none of 
the girls' schools are in the charge of men prin- 
cipals. The mixed schools are in the charge of 
men and women principals in substantially equal 
proportion. 

By no means do all of the 424 elementary 
schools contain all the grades from the first to the 
eighth, inclusive. Something more than half of 
them are complete elementary schools containing 
all of the grades. In general these schools are in 
the charge of men principals. The next largest 
group of schools consists of those containing only 
the lower grades. They are in reality primary 
schools and in general are in the charge of women 
principals. The following table shows how men 
and women principals are distributed among 
schools having all of the grades, lower grades only, 
upper grades only, and intermediate grades only: 



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27 



Referring to the figures in the second column of 
the table it will be seen that the great majority of 
the men are in charge of schools having all of the 
grades. Only 7 per cent, of them are in charge of 
schools having primary grades only. In sharp 
contrast are conditions among women principals, 
as shown by the figures in the fourth column. 
Here it will be noted that only 28 per cent, of the 
women are in charge of schools having all the 
grades, and that nearly all of the rest preside over 
schools containing the primary grades only. 

In New York elementary school buildings vary 
greatly in size, ranging from buildings of less than 
ten class rooms to the largest elementary schools 
in the world, containing over seventy class rooms. 
In general, women principals are in charge of the 
smaller buildings and men of the larger ones. The 
distribution of men and women principals among 
the buildings of varying numbers of class rooms is 
shown in the following table : 



28 



Number of Class Rooms in Day Elementary 
Schools in Charge of Men and Women Prin- 
cipals in New York According to Report of 
Superintendent of Schools for 1910.* 

Men Women Per 

Number of Prin- Prin- Cent. 

Class Rooms. cipals. cipals. Total. Women. 

1-10 4 10 14 71 

11-20 17 41 58 71 

21-30 54 64 118 54 

31-40 58 50 108 46 

41-50 50 22 72 31 

51-60 25 10 35 29 

61-70 11 6 17 35 

Over 70 1 ... 1 

Total 220 203 423 48 

* P. S. — 100 Manhattan not included. 

Referring to the last column it will be seen that 
71 per cent, of the buildings having the smallest 
number of class rooms are in the charge of women 
principals and that this per cent, falls off as the 
size of the building increases. 

There are two salary schedules for principals of 
each sex, one for those in charge of schools having 
from six to eleven class rooms, and the other ap- 
plying to principals in charge of the larger schools. 

29 



The following table shows how the men and 
women principals are distributed under these 
salary schedules: 

Grades and Salaries of Elementary School Prin- 
cipals in New York According to the Budget 
of 1910. 

Per Cent. 
Men. Women. Total. Women. 

Principals of 

schools of six to 

eleven classes at 

$1,400 to $1,600 

for women and 

$2,100 to $2,400 

for men 14 20 34 59 

Principals of 

schools of twelve 

or more classes 

at $1,750 to $2,- 

500 for women 

and $2,750 to 

$3,500 for men. 211 196 407 48 



Total 225 216 441 49 



It will be noted that according to this table the 
number of principals is 441, whereas in the pre- 
ceding tables it has been only 424. The explana- 

30 



tion is that the present table is taken from data 
presented in the Budget for 1910, and is of a more 
recent date than that taken from the report of the 
Superintendent of Schools for 1909. A glance 
at the figures is sufficient to show that the great 
majority of the principals are in charge of schools 
having more than ten class rooms, and so are paid 
according to the second of the two classes of 
salary schedules referred to. Under this schedule 
salaries for men principals are exactly one thou- 
sand dollars higher than are those for women 
principals. 

The salient facts concerning conditions main- 
taining among the elementary school principals 
are the following : 

1. Men and women principals are substantially 
equal in number. 

2. Men are predominately in charge of boys' 
and mixed schools and women are predominately 
in charge of girls' and mixed schools. 

3. Men are predominately in charge of schools 
having all of the grades from the lowest to the 
highest, while women are predominately in charge 
of those having primary grades only. 

4. Men are predominately in charge of the 
larger schools and women in charge of the smaller 
ones. 

5. In general the men's salaries are one thou- 
sand dollars higher than the women's salaries. 

31 



CHAPTER II.— HIGH, TRAINING, 
MODEL AND EVENING SCHOOLS. 

Men and Women Teachers in the Day High 
Schools. 

There are over 27,000 children in the day high 
schools of New York City. About one-quarter 
of them attend boys' schools, another quarter at- 
tend girls' schools and the rest are found in the 
mixed schools. In general the boys' high schools 
are taught by men teachers, the girls' high schools 
are taught by women and the mixed high schools 
are taught by both men and women, with the latter 
predominating. The exact figures, showing con- 
ditions with respect both to pupils and teachers 
are presented in the following table : 

Students and Teachers by Sexes in Day High 
Schools in New York According to Superin- 
tendent's Report for 1909. 





Students. 


Teachers. 




Boys. Girls. 


Men. Women. 


In boys' schools. . 
In girls' schools. . 
In mixed schools. 


7,760 .... 

6,892 

4,716 8,120 


305 
28 

224 

557 


14 

283 
323 


Total 


12,476 15,012 


620 



32 



Referring to the first two lines in the last two 
columns it will be seen that a few women are 
found teaching in the boys' schools and a few men 
in the girls' schools, but that the number in both 
cases is comparatively small. 

High school teachers are paid according to six 
salary schedules, three for each sex, as is shown in 
the following table : 



t & 



Grades and Salaries of Day High School Teach- 
ers in New York According to the Budget of 
1910. 

Per Cent. 
Men. Women. Total. Women. 

Junior teachers, 

library, clerical 

and laboratory 

assist ants at 

$900 to $1,200 

for men and 

$700 to $1,000 

for women 25 51 79 65 

Assistant teachers 

at $1,300 to $2,- 

400 for men and 

$1,100 to $1,900 

for women 453 569 1,022 56 



33 



Per Cent. 
Men. Women. Total. Women. 



First assistants at 
$2,500 to $3,000 
for men and $2,- 
000 to $2,500 
for women 77 21 98 21 



Total 555 641 1,199 53 

Two facts are noteworthy: First, that men's 
salaries are on the average from $200 to $500 
higher than are women's salaries ; and second, that 
a great majority of all of the teachers are classified 
as " Assistant Teachers " and paid intermediate 
salaries. There are comparatively few teachers of 
either sex in the lowest or in the highest salaried 
grades. The distribution of the two sexes accord- 
ing to the salaries received is shown in the follow- 
ing table: 



34 





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35 



Referring to the first line it will be noted that 
more than half of all of the men teachers are re- 
ceiving salaries ranging from $2,000 to $2,500. 
In contrast with this it will be seen that more than 
half of the women teachers are receiving salaries 
ranging from $1,500 to $2,000. The average man 
receives a salary slightly in excess of $2,100, 
whereas the average salary for the woman is some- 
thing less than $1,600. All of these figures show 
that on the average the men teachers receive 
salaries amounting to $500 more than those paid 
to women teachers. 

There are seventeen high school principals, all 
of them men. They are paid under a schedule 
providing that a principal of a high school having 
supervision over less than twenty-five teachers 
shall receive $3,500 per annum, while one super- 
vising more than twenty-five teachers shall receive 
$5,000 per annum. It is noteworthy that no sex 
distinction is made in this schedule. 

In general, conditions obtaining in the high 
schools with regard to salaries are duplicated in 
the training schools. Here the salary schedules 
are identical with those in the high schools, with 
the exception that there is in addition a schedule 
providing for the salaries of model and critic 
teachers. There are seventy-six of these teachers, 
and they receive a salary of $1,000, increasing to 
$1,500 in five increments of $100. 

36 



Evening Schools. 

Evening schools are of four kinds — high schools, 
elementary schools, trade schools and industrial 
schools. During the last school year, the high 
schools and trade schools were in session from Sep- 
tember to May, for a period of 120 evenings. The 
industrial and elementary schools were in session 
from October to April, for a period of ninety 
evenings. 

The enrollment, register and average attend- 
ance in these schools appear in the following table : 

Average 
Enroll- Amend- 

ment. Register, ance. 

High schools 26,245 21,597 8,474 

Elementary schools. . 87,000 77,051 30,979 
Trade and industrial 

schools 7,045 6,580 2,564 

By referring to this table, it will be noted that 
the average attendance in the evening schools is 
about one-third as large as the enrollment. This 
is because many students enroll and do not attend, 
or attend for a short time only. 



87 



The numbers of schools and teachers are as fol- 
lows: 

Evening Schools and Teachers. 

Schools. Teachers. 



High schools... 15 379 

Elementary schools 84 1,340 



Total 99 1,719 

It will be noted that there are about 1,700 
teachers in the evening schools. All of them are 
paid by the evening, and no discrimination is made 
on the basis of sex. In the evening high schools: 
teachers are paid $5 per evening, and in the ele- 
mentary schools $3 per evening. Teachers oi 
trade subjects in the evening high schools are paid 
$5 per evening. Principals in the evening high 
schools are paid $7 per evening, and those of ele- 
mentary schools $5 per evening. Supervisors of 
special subjects receive $6 per evening; substitutes 
in evening high schools $3, and those in evening 
elementary schools $2. 

To summarize: 

1. Boys' high schools are taught mostly by men 
teachers, girls' high schools by women teachers, 
and mixed high schools by teachers of both sexes. 

38 



2. The great majority of all of the high school 
teachers are assistant teachers. 

3. On the average the men teachers receive $500 
each per annum more than the women teachers. 

4. There is no sex distinction in the payment of 
high school principals. 

5. Salaries of training school teachers are in 
general identical with those in high schools. 

6. There is no sex distinction in the payment of 
teachers of evening schools. 



39 



PART II. 
STUDIES AND CONSIDERATIONS, 



CHAPTER III.— UNDESIRABLE MUL- 
TIPLICITY OF SALARY SCHEDULES. 

The teachers in the public schools of New York 
City are paid according to no fewer than eighty- 
five salary schedules. In the opinion of the Com- 
mission this number should be largely reduced in 
the interests of efficient administration. One of 
the most fruitful sources of bitterness, dissatisfac- 
tion and disagreement on the part of employees 
of all grades in the Department of Education is 
found to be the transfer of teachers from one 
grade to another. The cause of this trouble rests 
in the multiplicity of salary schedules. 

Women teachers in the elementary schools, for 
example, are paid according to three different 
salary schedules, depending on the grade taught. 
It often happens that the number of classes in the 
upper grades in one school is reduced, thus leaving 
one or more teachers without classes corresponding 
to their salaries. These teachers must now be 
transferred to another school and put in charge of 
classes of the appropriate grade, for legally a 
teacher in one grade cannot be transferred to 
another grade with a lower salary except upon 
charges and after trial. 

43 



It is this transfer that causes the trouble. Al- 
most without exception there is in the second 
school, some teacher who has been working and 
waiting for years for the opportunity to be pro- 
moted to the upper grade position which she now 
sees taken by an outside teacher. This situation 
gives rise to disappointment and discouragement. 
The teacher who is transferred objects to leaving 
the school to which she has become accustomed and 
where her friends are and to moving among 
strangers and perhaps to a part of the city far dis- 
tant from her home. The principal of the school 
does not like to lose her. The principal and teach- 
ers of the new school are hostile to her and oppose 
her coming. The school officials are subjected to 
great annoyance in bringing each case to final set- 
tlement. In general after a settlement is at length 
reached it is satisfactory to nobody. 

The objections to the present sj^stem of multiple 
schedules which have been reviewed are by no 
means the only ones or perhaps the most import- 
ant. The well-being of the schools demands that 
so far as possible teachers be assigned to the work 
that they can do best. The present salary sched- 
ules largely prevent this. A teacher's only hope 
of advancement now is to secure a class of a higher 
grade even if she have superior ability for teaching 
the younger pupils. This superior ability, as well 
as the interests of the children, is therefore sacri- 

44 



ficed. The work of the lower grades in the ele- 
mentary schools when properly done is just as dif- 
ficult as that of the upper ones and is always just 
as important. It is clear that it should be equally 
compensated. 

Still another argument in favor of uniform 
schedules covering as many grades as possible is 
that, at present, teachers legally eligible for ad- 
vancement in one borough are ineligible in another. 
Some licensed prior to a given date are eligible, 
while others licensed later are not unless they 
obtain a higher license after examination. These 
conditions are most undesirable. They would dis- 
appear with the adoption of uniform schedules 
covering all of the grades. 

In general the arguments in favor of reducing 
the number of schedules are : 

1. This would do away with a prolific source of 
dissension and discouragement in our school 
system. 

2. A unification of schedules will make for a 
more effective and efficient school system, tend to 
locate teachers in the positions where they can 
work to the best advantage and make the motive 
for transfers increase in professional efficiency 
rather than better pay. 



45 



CHAPTER IV.— CONCERNING SALARY 
INCREASES. 

Salaries in Other Cities Compared with 
those in New York. 

With rare exceptions the salaries of teachers in 
New York City are higher than those paid in any- 
other city in the country ; there is no city that pays 
as high salaries on the average and only in a few 
positions in a very few cities are wages as high for 
work of equal grade as they are here. 

The facts regarding the average salaries in the 
largest cities are shown in the following table: 

Average Salaries in Four Large Cities in 1910. 

Elementary Elementary High School 
Teachers. Principals. Teachers. 



New York . . . 


$1,006 


$2,878 


$1,895 


Philadelphia . 


756 


1,599 


1,464 


St. Louis. . . . 


804 


2,265 


1,273 


Newark .... 


855 


2,280 


1,829 



Average Salaries of High School Teachers in 
Seven Large Cities in 1910. 

Pittsburg $1,655 

Milwaukee 1,330 



San Francisco 1,612 

Kansas City 1,355 

Los Angeles 1,542 

Seattle 1,222 

Jersey City 1,626 

It is noteworthy that in every case the salary 
paid in New York is higher than that paid in any 
other city. The greatest differences in favor of 
New York are shown in the figures for elementary 
teachers and principals. The smallest differences 
are shown in the salaries of high school teachers. 
Here it is especially noteworthy that Newark and 
Jersey City are not far behind New York in their 
payment of high school teachers. 

Facts regarding minimum and maximum 
salaries in the largest cities are shown in the fol- 
lowing table. The data were gathered in the at- 
tempt to secure complete information covering the 
twenty largest cities, but it has been necessary to 
omit New Orleans and Washington because ef- 
forts to secure information from those cities were 
unavailing, and Jersey City has been included in 
the list because of its proximity to New York and 
its high salary schedule : 



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49 



In several of the cases, especially in the column 
showing minimum salaries for high school teachers, 
it will be noted that the figures for other cities are 
higher than the figure for New York. In this con- 
nection it must be remembered that the minimum 
salary for high school teachers in this city is for all 
practical purposes $1,100, and not $700; while 
there are a few teachers at the latter figure, they 
are so few that the number is comparatively negli- 
gible. 

A scrutiny of the foregoing table will show that 
in practically all of these cities, salaries in each of 
the three grades of position are higher than they 
are in New York, and, as has already been shown, 
wherever average figures can be obtained the New 
York figures are without exception higher than all 
of the other figures. The foregoing facts are put 
forward as a statement of comparative conditions, 
not as constituting an argument against increases 
in New York. The salaries of teachers here are 
higher than they are elsewhere. 

In the opinion of the Commission this condition 
is normal and should be maintained. The point of 
greatest importance in this connection is not, per- 
haps, that our city is still ahead in the amount it 
pays its teachers, but rather that the other cities 
are rapidly overtaking us. The evidence on this 
point will be presented in the following section. 



50 



Upward Trend of Salaries in Other Large 

Cities. 

During the past few years salary increases have 
been frequent and general in other large cities, 
while no change has taken place in New York. 
The attempt has been made to gather data show- 
ing increases in salaries in the twenty-five largest 
cities from the year 1905 to 1910. Conditions 
among two classes of teachers, regular grade 
teachers and high school teachers, are here pre- 
sented as being representative of general tend- 
encies. Among the twenty-five largest cities fig- 
ures for New York are omitted, and it has 
been impossible to secure those for Washington. 
Among the other twenty-three cities there have 
been during the past five years increases in the 
salaries of elementary teachers in the case of 
twenty ; in the other three cities no changes have 
taken place. Here, as in the rest of this discus- 
sion, the per cent, of increase is reckoned by com- 
paring the salary midway between the lowest and 
highest salary paid five years ago with a salary 
midway between the lowest and highest salary 
paid at the present time. The average increase 
in the cities which have adopted new schedules 
amounts to twenty-two per cent. The facts are as 
follows : 



51 



Percentage of Increase in Salaries of Grade 
Teachers in the Twenty-five Largest Cities 
Between 1905 and 1910. 



Per Cent. 

City. Increase. 

Toledo 41 

Baltimore 39 

St. Louis 39 

Jersey City 29 

Indianapolis 29 

Rochester 29 

Minneapolis 28 

Detroit 28 

St. Paul 27 

Milwaukee 25 

Newark 20 

Providence 18 

San Francisco 17 

Cleveland 13 

Chicago 11 

Louisville 11 

Cincinnati 11 

Pittsburg 8 

New Orleans 8 

Philadelphia 6 

Boston No change 

Buffalo No change 

52 



Per Cent. 
City. Increase. 

Kansas City No change 

Washington No data 

New York Omitted 

Average increase where change has been 

made 22 

Average increase for all cities furnish- 
ing data 19 

Information concerning changes in high school 
salaries has been more difficult to secure. Among 
the same twenty-three cities fifteen have adopted 
schedules providing increased salaries, two report 
no change and six have failed to furnish informa- 
tion. The average increase among those report- 
ing changes amounts to 22 per cent. If we in- 
clude all of those furnishing data this falls to 19 
per cent. In other words, the percentage of in- 
creases in high school salaries in these cities has 
been precisely the same as the increases in grade 
salaries. The facts are presented in the following 
table : 



53 



Percentage of Increase in Salaries of High School 
Teachers in the Twenty-five Largest Cities 
Between 1905 and 1910. 

Per Cent. 
City. Increase. 

Cincinnati 50 

St. Paul 36 

San Francisco 36 

Baltimore 33 

Newark 26 

Pittsburg 26 

Jersey City 22 

St. Louis 22 

Minneapolis 18 

Milwaukee 14 

New Orleans 13 

Chicago 13 

Providence 12 

Cleveland ; 6 

Detroit 2 

Boston No change 

Buffalo No change 

Kansas City No change 

Indianapolis No data 

Louisville No data 

Philadelphia No data 

Rochester No data 



54 



Per Cent. 
City. Increase. 

Toledo No data 

Washington No information 

New York Omitted 

Average increase where change has been 

made 22 

Average increase for all cities furnish- 
ing data 19 

The lesson of these two tables is that there has 
been during the past five years an upward tend- 
ency in the matter of teachers' salaries in the 
largest cities which has secured for the teachers an 
increase of something more than 20 per cent, in 
grade salaries and slightly less than 20 per cent, 
in high school salaries. 

The Increase in the Cost or Living. 

During the past ten years the cost of living has 
advanced steadily and rapidly, whereas the salaries 
of the teachers have remained unchanged since 
1900. The degree to which prices of commodities 
have advanced may be judged from the available 
index numbers of wholesale prices in the United 
States. There are several series of such numbers. 



55 



The best known are those published by Dun's and 
Bradstreet's Commercial Agencies and by the 
United States Bureau of Statistics of Labor. 

The Dun series of index numbers is designated 
to give the cost of the necessities of life for the in- 
dividual. The numbers are based on wholesale 
quotations and about 350 articles are represented. 
According to this series the cost of living in 1910 
is 35 per cent, greater than the average for the ten 
years 1890 to 1899. 

The Bradstreet series gives the totals of the 
prices per pound of ninety-six articles. Accord- 
ing to this series the prices in January, 1910, were 
36 per cent, higher than the average for the years 
1892 to 1899. 

Index numbers compiled by the United States 
Bureau of Statistics of Labor show the wholesale 
prices for 260 commodities for each year from 
1890 to 1908. The increase of the 1908 figure over 
the average for the ten years 1890 to 1899 is 23 
per cent. The reason that the increase in this 
series is smaller than in the preceding series is that 
the proportion of food articles in the Labor Bu- 
reau tables is smaller than in the other tables, and 
the cost of food has increased more rapidly than 
the cost of other commodities. • 

Turning now to retail prices we find that ac- 
cording to Bulletin No. 77 of the United States 
Bureau of Labor, retail food prices in 1907 were 

56 



21 per cent, higher than the average prices for 
1890 to 1899. 

According to the report of the Massachusetts 
Commission on the cost of living issued in May, 
1910, the total increase of the cost of living for a 
working man's family in Massachusetts in 1910 
was 21 per cent, higher than in 1901. 

The foregoing comparisons give five different 
figures relating to the increase in the cost of living 
during the past ten years. The figures are all dif- 
ferent and all computed on different bases. They 
are as follows : 

Cost Increases Since 1900. 

Per Cent. 
Source. Increase. 

Cost of living, based on wholesale prices, 

Dun's figures 35 

Wholesale prices, Bradstreet's index 

numbers 36 

Wholesale prices, United States Bureau 

of Labor 23 

Retail prices of food, United States Bu- 
reau of Labor 21 

Cost of living of working man's family, 

Massachusetts Commission 21 



57 



This gives a series of percentages ranging in 
size from 21 to 36. No one of the numbers pur- 
ports to give the increase in cost of living in New 
York City during the past ten years which is the 
datum of immediate interest to the present in- 
quiry. Roughly speaking, the percentages cited 
above range from one-fifth to one-third. As it is 
the consensus of opinion of nearly all who have 
written on the subject that the cost of living in 
New York City has advanced more rapidly than it 
has in most other localities, it would seem to be a 
conservative estimate to conclude that the increase 
in the cost of living in New York City during the 
past ten years lies between one-third and one-fifth, 
and is approximately equal to one-quarter, or 25 
per cent. 

On this basis it is apparent that the salaries of 
teachers should be substantially increased if they 
are to equal in purchasing power the value that 
they had ten years ago, when the present schedules 
were adopted. How this would work out in the 
cases of the commonest present salaries is shown 
in the following table, where the figures in the left 
hand column show present salaries and those in 
the right hand column salaries which would have 
to be paid to bring the value of the wage received 
up to the value that the same wage had in pur- 
chasing power ten years ago : 



58 



Increases Necessary to Render Some of the Com- 
monest Salaries Equal in Purchasing Power 
to Their Value Ten Years Ago. 

Necessary 
to Equal 
Purchasing 
Present Value in 
Position. Salary. 1900. 

Grade Teachers — 

Men $2,400 $3,000 

Women 1,240 1,550 

Women 720 900 

Elementary Principals — 

Men 8,500 4,375 

Women 2,500 3,125 

High School Teachers — 

Men 2,400 3,000 

Women 1,900 2,375 

The foregoing is presented as illustrative of the 
manner in which a flat 25 per cent, increase would 
work out. It is not intended to represent the con- 
clusions of the Commission as to the changes 
which should be made in the existing schedules. 



59 



Is the Beginning Wage of the New York 
Teacher a Living Wage? 

Women teachers entering the service of New 
York City are paid during the first year at the rate 
of $600 per annum. The question has been much 
discussed whether or not this is a living wage. Un- 
fortunately few reliable data are available show- 
ing the cost of living of a young woman in New 
York City who must live in the manner demanded 
by society of a public school teacher. 

Reliable data are available showing what it costs 
a laboring man decently to support his family in 
New York City. These figures have some value 
in the present inquiry. In 1907 the report of the 
State Committee on the Standard of Living of 
the New York State Conference of Charities and 
Correction stated that it was a conservative esti- 
mate that the sum of $825 per annum was suffi- 
cient to support a laboring man's family consisting 
of himself, his wife and three small children in 
New York City. 

The Committee on the Standard of Living of 
the New York State Conference of Charities and 
Correction reported in 1906 that such a family as 
the one mentioned in the preceding paragraph 
could maintain a normal standard of living in New 
York City for the sum of $950 per annum. 



60 



More significant than the foregoing estimates, 
is the conclusion of the report on the Standard of 
of Living of the Russell Sage Foundation pub- 
lished in 1909. The investigation conducted by 
the Foundation was most careful and extensive. 
The conclusion reached was that a laboring man's 
family in New York City could get food enough 
to keep soul and body together and clothing and 
shelter enough to meet the most urgent demands 
of decency for from $900 to $1,000 per annum. 

It will be noted that the foregoing estimates 
refer to budgets of laboring men, and the basis of 
computation in each case is a family composed of 
father, mother and three small children. From 
these figures it would appear that the sum of $600 
per annum should be sufficient to enable a woman 
teacher in New York City to live on a slightly 
better basis than the laboring men and their 
wives, whose living expenses went to make up the 
foregoing figures. 

The most significant data bearing on this point 
are the outcome of an investigation conducted by 
the New York Association for Improving the 
Condition of the Poor in the year 1907, to discover 
the relation of salaries to the cost of living among 
the members of its relief staff. Careful records 
were gathered showing the expenditure for living 
expenses of twenty-two young women employees. 
These young women received salaries ranging be- 

61 



tween $540 and $1,000. These salaries are com- 
parable to those received by school teachers, and 
the young women employed are of somewhat 
similar social status. 

Among the twenty-two young women nine were 
able to live within their salaries, eight spent ex- 
actly the amount received, and five spent more 
than they were paid; ten or them had others to 
support wholly or in part. It was found that those 
who succeeded in living within the sum of $600 per 
year prepared their own breakfasts, paid 15 cents 
for lunch and 25 cents for dinner and $4 per week 
for room rent. Even with the closest economy 
some of them did not succeed in keeping their 
necessary living expenses down to $600 per year. 

In the search for further light upon this 
problem, members of the Commission have ques- 
tioned a number of school teachers in New York 
City, as well as stenographers and typewriters em- 
ployed in offices of the better grade regarding their 
expenditures and their experiences with salaries of 
different amounts. 

The testimony of these young women is without 
exception to the effect that it is possible for them 
to live on the sum of $600 per year only if they are 
receiving help from home, or are living with their 
families, or possess upon beginning work an outfit 
of clothes sufficient to avoid the necessity of buy- 
ing many new ones during the first year or two. 

62 



The dividing line between just being unable to 
meet the necessary living expenses and just being 
able to meet these expenses, seems to be the line 
which is crossed when one progresses from an in- 
come of $50 a month to one of $60 per month. 

The conclusion reached as the result of these in- 
quiries is that the lowest living wage for a teacher 
in New York City is $720 per annum, rather than 
$600 per annum. 

Salary Increases on the Basis of Efficiency. 

In many cities salary increases are uncondi- 
tional and are based upon the length of service. In 
others they are contingent on increased efficiency, 
as tested by examinations, class room work, or 
professional study. There are also many cities 
where combinations of the two systems are in 
force. The Commission has studied a number of 
these different systems in the endeavor to discover 
the respective merits and applicability in this city. 

Some typical plans are in brief as follows : 

Fort Wayne — Salary increases are regulated on 
the basis of scholarship, class room efficiency and 
length of experience combined. Each case is 
judged separately and the salary fixed by the 
Board of Education. 

Fitchburg, Mass. — Unconditional annual incre- 
ments plus more rapid advance as a reward for 
professional study. 

63 



Cincinnati — Unconditional annual increments 
until a given point in the salary schedule is 
reached. Above this the final increment is given 
for class room efficiency and continued profes- 
sional study. 

St. Louis — Unconditional increase, maximum 
being reached in five annual increments. 

Baltimore — Schedule divided in two parts. Pro- 
motion to increments in the first part is awarded 
on the basis of class room work. Promotion to 
increments in second part is given on the basis of a 
written and oral examination. In addition a bonus 
is provided for special work of an executive nature. 
This is awarded to about 11 per cent, of all the 
teachers. 

Hastings, Neb. — Teachers are grouped in three 
classes. Increases in each class are automatic. 
Promotion in next above is based on efficiency in 
class room work or course of professional training. 

Cleveland — There are three salary groups cover- 
ing four years each. Promotion in each group is 
automatic. Promotion in the next higher class 
is on the basis of efficiency as rated by super- 
visors, principals, etc. 

In New York City increases in the elementary 
schedules are unconditional during the first seven 
years. At this point increases theoretically stop 
unless the services of the teacher have been ap- 
proved as meritorious by the majority of the 

64 



Board of Superintendents. The same thing takes 
place after the teacher has taught for twelve years. 
This divides the teaching period into three groups, 
with promotion to the second and third groups 
contingent on giving meritorious services. In 
actual practice these provisions are rarely ob- 
served. 

It seems to be the almost unanimous consensus 
of opinion of the administrative officers of the 
New York Board of Education that it would be 
dangerous to introduce at this time a further ex- 
tension of the so-called " merit system " for the 
promotion of teachers. The basis on which this 
position is taken is that such a change would tend 
to bring about an undesirable intervention of 
political and other influences in the securing of 
promotion. Whether or not this contention is 
valid, it probably is so in view of the attitude of 
the administrative officers of the Board of Edu- 
cation. Because of this, it is the opinion of the 
Commission that a further extension of the merit 
system should not be introduced in the payment 
of teachers in this city at the present time. 

The Bonus System. 

In the opinion of the Commission an increased 
use should be made of the practice of giving in- 
creased remuneration for special service through 
granting a bonus over the regular salary rather 

65 



than through the creation of a new salary grade 
with its separate schedule. This practice is at 
present followed to some extent in the New York 
schools. We believe that the number of positions 
where it should be used ought to be increased. On 
the other hand, there are at present a large num- 
ber of bonuses paid for the teaching of mixed 
classes which we do not feel are justified. 

The principal advantages of payment through 
the bonus system are: First, that this does not 
increase the number of salary schedules; and sec- 
ondly, that if a teacher receiving a bonus for doing 
additional work does not render satisfactory ser- 
vice no legal question can arise as to the right of 
the administrative officers of the school system to 
reassign the teacher to his regular work and stop 
payment of the bonus. 

Because of the foregoing reasons, it is the 
opinion of the Commission that assistants to prin- 
cipals in the elementary schools should be regular 
teachers assigned to this special work and paid a 
bonus in addition to their regular salaries rather 
than being paid as they are now under separate 
salary schedules. In the same way we hold that 
heads of departments in high schools should be 
regular high school teachers assigned to this extra 
work and should receive payment for it in the 
shape of a bonus. 



66 



Bonuses are already paid to teachers of some 
kinds of special classes and are not paid to others. 
We believe that they should be paid to teachers of 
so-called "C," " D," " E," "Ungraded" and 
" Crippled " classes. On the other hand, our pro- 
posed reorganization of the salary schedules in the 
elementary grades provides for differentiation be- 
tween salaries paid for teaching boys and girls. 
For this reason we believe that the bonus of $60 
per annum now paid to women teachers teaching 
boys' classes and mixed classes containing 40 per 
cent, boys should be done away with. 

To summarize: 

1. We believe that the use of the bonus system 
in the payment of salaries should be extended. 

2. We believe that assistants to principals and 
heads of departments should be regular teachers 
assigned temporarily to special service and paid 
by the bonus system while they are so employed. 

3. We believe that the bonus of $60 per annum 
now paid to women elementary teachers for teach- 
ing classes of boys should be discontinued. 

Clerks or Additional Teachers. 

There are employed in the elementary schools 
of the City some 416 clerks or so-called " addi- 
tional teachers " whose duties are to teach classes 
in the absence of class teachers and to perform 
such clerical work as the principal shall determine. 

67 



These additional teachers hold substitute licenses 
or higher licenses. They are appointed annually 
by the Board of Superintendents. They are paid 
$3 per day, men and women being paid alike. 

In the opinion of the Commission this class of 
employee is seriously underpaid. At $3 per day a 
clerk who is present during each of the 194 school 
days during the year receives an annual wage of 
$522. If a clerk is absent because of sickness 
payment is deducted even if the absence is directly 
due to pressure of work in the school. This treat- 
ment is in distinct contrast with the Board's treat- 
ment of teachers absent from illness. 

If a teacher is absent from illness she is never- 
theless paid for Saturdays and Sundays, holidays 
and the summer and other vacations. The clerk, 
on the other hand, receives no payment for Satur- 
days, Sundays or holidays. Furthermore, while a 
teacher receives annual increments in pay as a 
result of satisfactory continuous service, a clerk 
may never look forward to higher wages no matter 
how long or excellent may be his record. 

The duties of the clerk are onerous and com- 
plicated. They include the making up of monthly 
payrolls, the requisitions for supplies, working 
papers for the children, filling in health reports, 
keeping records of attendance, admissions and dis- 
charges, carrying the general correspondence and 
frequently acting as secretary of conferences, as- 

68 



sisting in fire drills, etc. In addition to these 
duties the clerk acts as a teacher whenever his 
services are required and there is an increasing 
demand that the clerks have some knowledge of 
stenography and typewriting and sufficient mus- 
ical ability to play the piano for singing and 
marching at the morning assembly. 

It is the unanimous opinion of the Commission 
that the clerks or additional teachers should re- 
ceive higher wages and that they should be paid 
on the basis of an annual salary, increasing yearly 
through successive increments. 



69 



CHAPTER V.— INTERRELATION OF 
SEX, WORK AND PAY. 

Sex Comparisons. 

The Commission has conducted seven studies of 
the comparative records of men and women teach- 
ers, principals and other wage earners in the 
endeavor to bring to light any features bearing on 
their comparative value to the school system. The 
first two of these consist of a tabulation of the 
attendance of the children and the per cent, of 
children promoted during the past two school 
years in the elementary schools presided over by 
men and women principals. The results of these 
two studies are shown in the following table : 

Comparative Attendance of Pupils in Element- 
ary Day Schools in Charge of Men and 
Women Principals, New York City, During 
Two Years. 

Schools Schools 
Under Under 
Men Women 
Principals. Principals. 

Median percentage of at- 
tendance of pupils 1907-8 87 88 

Median percentage of at- 
tendance of pupils 1908-9 89 89 



70 



Comparative Percentage of Pupils Promoted in 
Elementary Day Schools in Charge of Men 
and Women Principals, New York City, 
During Two Years. 

Schools Schools 
Under Under 
Men Women 
Principals. Principals. 

Median percentage of pro- 
motion of pupils 1907-8 . 80 81 

Median percentage of pro- 
motion of pupils 1908-9 . 81 81 

Referring to the first table, it will be noted that 
the attendance of pupils in schools in the charge of 
men principals is virtually the same as it is in 
schools under women principals. In a similar way 
reference to the second table shows that the per- 
centage of promotions in the two classes of schools 
is practically the same. In both cases a slightly 
better showing is made by the women, but the dif- 
ference is so small that we cannot be sure that it 
is significant. In this connection it must be re- 
membered that the schools presided over by the 
men principals include in most cases all of the 
grades from the lowest to the highest, whereas the 
schools under women principals contain in a ma- 
jority of cases primary grades only. This funda- 

71 



mental difference prevents the two sets of data 
from being truly comparable. 

The third study consisted of a tabulation of the 
number of years of service of the men and women 
teachers in the elementary and high schools. It 
has frequently been claimed that a large propor- 
tion of the women teachers regard their work as a 
temporary vocation rather than as a profession, 
and remain in it only a few years, marry and 
leave. Somewhat less frequently it has been 
claimed, on the other hand, that large numbers of 
men teach school while studying for the law or 
some other profession and then drop out. The 
facts as to the length of service of the representa- 
tives of the two sexes are shown in the following' 
table : 

Length of Service of Men and Women Teachers 
in New York Day Elementary and High 
Schools According to Budget of 1910. 



Number. Per Cent. 



Years. Men. Women. Men. Women. 



1-3 385 2,600 19 17 

4-6 750 3,367 37 22 

7-9 362 2,701 18 17 

10 and up 538 6,947 26 44 

Total 2,035 15,615 100 100 



72 



Referring to the two columns on the right it 
will be seen that the largest group of the men 
teachers are those who have been in the service 
from four to six years, whereas the largest group 
of women teachers are those who have been in the 
service for ten years or more. These figures show 
that so far as the present teaching force is con- 
cerned, the women teachers have on the average 
remained in the service of the department for a 
longer period of time than have the men. 

The fourth study was related to the foregoing, 
and consisted of an investigation of the records of 
the body of teachers who entered the service in the 
year 1900. The object was to discover the pro- 
portion of the representatives of both sexes who 
survived in the service and the point at which those 
who left, dropped out. The facts as to survival 
are presented in the following table : 

Table Showing Teachers Entering New York 
School System (All Schools) in 1900; Num- 
ber of Same Still in System in 1910 and 
Number and Per Cent. Leaving During the 
Interval. 

Men. Women. Total. 

Appointed during 1900. . 
Teaching June 1, 1910. . . 
Leaving during interval . . 
Per cent, leaving 

73 



158 


987 


1,145 


96 


602 


698 


62 


885 


447 


39 


39 


39 



Referring to the percentage figures shown in 
the last column we learn that during the eleven 
years from 1900 to 1910, inclusive, 39 per cent, of 
the men and 39 per cent, of the women dropped 
out. The total data presenting the facts for each 
individual showed that most of the men who 
dropped out did so during the first three years, 
whereas the women left more slowly, and it was 
not until five years had passed that as many as 
half of those who dropped out during the entire 
period had left the service. The results of these 
two studies indicate that whatever difference there 
is in the matter of remaining in the sendee of the 
school system, it is in favor of the women rather 
than in favor of the men. 

The fifth study was an investigation of the com- 
parative number of absences from duty of the men 
and women teachers. These absences are seriously 
frequent in the New York school system. De- 
tailed data covering the entire system of day 
schools for the months of May and December, 
1909, and May, 1910, show that the aggregate 
absences from duty of teachers in the school 
system amount on the average to over 100,000 
hours per month. This represents an annual 
money loss to New York City, directly and in- 
directly, amounting to about $1,200,000. During 
each school month of twenty days the average man 
teacher is absent from duty two hours and forty 

74 



minutes, the average woman teacher six hours and 
twenty minutes. The absences in the different 
classes of schools are shown in the following table : 

Comparative Absences From Duty of Men and 
Women Teachers Based on Reports of New 
York Board of Education for May and De- 
cember, 1909, and May, 1910. Figures Show 
How Many Hours Average Woman Teacher 
Is Absent, for Each Hour That Average 
Man Is Absent. 

Men. Women. 

Elementary teachers 1 2.2 

Teachers of special branches .... 1 1.9 

High school teachers 1 3.5 

Training school teachers 1 2.3 



Entire system 1 2.5 

The figures in the second column show that the 
average woman is absent from duty two and a half 
times as much as the average man. The compari- 
son is most unfavorable in the case of the women 
high school teachers, who are absent three and a 
half times as much as the men high school teachers. 

The sixth study consisted of a comparison of 
the records of 150 men and 150 women teachers 
teaching in the same grades and schools. By this 

75 



is meant that transcripts of the official records 
were taken covering the cases of one man and one 
woman teacher in the eighth grade, one man and 
one woman in the seventh grade, one man and one 
woman in the sixth grade, etc., in each school 
where men and women taught together in these 
grades, until the total of 150 cases for each sex was 
reached. This process eliminated all possibility 
of favoring the representative of one sex over 
that of the other. The comparison covered the 
records of the teachers for the first term of the 
school year 1909-10. The results are presented in 
the following table : 

Comparative Records of 150 Men and 150 Women 
in the Same Grades and Schools, New York, 
During First Term of School Year 1909-10. 

Men. Women. 

Average size of class 41 41 

Average per cent, of children pro- 
moted 75 . 1 74 . 7 

Per cent, of attendance of chil- 
dren 84 82 . 3 

Average day's absence of teachers .69 .95 

Average times tardy per teacher . .46 .36 



Referring to the first line, it will be seen that 
on the average the men and women taught classes 

76 



of exactly the same size. The second line shows 
that the percentage of promotions of children in 
classes taught by men is slightly higher than it is 
in the classes taught by women. The third line 
shows that the percentage of attendance of chil- 
dren in the classes taught by men was somewhat 
higher than it was in the classes taught by women. 
The fourth line shows that absences from duty 
were more frequent among the women than 
among the men. The fifth line shows that tardi- 
ness on the part of the teacher was more common 
among the men than among the women. The re- 
sult of the comparison is on the whole more favor- 
able to the men teachers than to the women teach- 
ers. 

The seventh study consisted of an investigation 
of the comparative wages of the men and women 
wage earners in teaching and in other occupations. 



77 



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78 



The first line shows that in an investigation con- 
ducted by the United States Bureau of Labor 
more than a decade ago it was found that women 
rated by their employers as being equally efficient 
with men workers in the same establishments, re- 
ceived on the average only 79 per cent, as high 
wages. The second line shows that in another in- 
vestigation conducted by the same department in 
1908, women in twenty-four industries received on 
the average only 73 per cent, as high wages as men 
in the same establishments, there being in this case 
no attempt to compare individuals rated as of 
equal efficiency. The third line shows that in 1909, 
women teachers in the North Atlantic States re- 
ceived on the average 71 per cent, as high wages 
as men teachers. The fourth line shows that in 
New York City, the average salary of women high 
school teachers was 72 per cent, of the average 
salary of men high school teachers. The last line 
shows that the average woman- elementary school 
teacher in New York City receives only 60 per 
cent, as high a salary as the average man element- 
ary school teacher. 

In general, men in teaching, as in other occupa- 
tions, appear to receive approximately four-thirds 
the remuneration received by women in the same 
occupations. In the case of the elementary school 
teachers in New York City the ratio of women's 
wages to men's wages is distinctly lower than this. 

79 



This seems to indicate that there is an undue dis- 
proportion between the wages received by the rep- 
resntatives of the two sexes in the New York ele- 
mentary schools. 
To summarize: 

1. The average attendance of pupils is approxi- 
mately equal in schools presided over by men and 
women principals in New York City. 

2. The average percentage of promotion among 
pupils is approximately equal in the schools pre- 
sided over by men and women principals in New 
York City. 

3. Of the teachers now in the service of New 
York City the women have on the average taught 
in New York for a longer period of years than 
have the men. 

4. Of the teachers appointed in 1900 exactly the 
same percentage of men and women dropped out 
in the succeeding ten years. 

5. Women teachers are on the average absent 
from duty two and a half times as much as men. 

6. In a comparison made of the records of 150 
men and 150 women in the same grades and 
schools it was found that the percentage of chil- 
dren promoted and the percentage of attendance 
of children were higher in the men's classes than in 
the women's classes. The women were absent from 
duty more than the men and the men were tardy 
more than the women. 

80 



7. In teaching and in other occupations the 
ratio of women's wages to men's wages in the same 
establishments appears to be about three to four, 
whereas it is distinctly lower in the case of the 
women elementary teachers in New York City. 

Supply and Demand. 

The argument that men teachers are and must 
be paid larger wages than women teachers of cor- 
responding grade because of the natural operation 
of the law of supply and demand has frequently 
been invoked in the discussion over " equal pay." 
Those who argue thus, claim that the supply of 
men teachers is relatively smaller than that of 
women teachers, and hence if men teachers are to 
be secured they must be paid larger wages than 
women teachers. 

Of course no one claims that the welfare of the 
schools demands men and women teachers in any- 
thing like equal numbers. What is claimed by 
many educators is that men teachers are needed to 
teach the older boys. It is universally admitted 
that women teachers are better for smaller chil- 
dren, and are satisfactory as teachers of girls of all 
ages. 

Now there are four times as many children in 
the first six grades of our public schools as there 
are in the two upper grades and the high schools. 
Moreover, more than half of the pupils in these 

81 



upper classes are girls. Hence, if all of the boys 
in the high schools and two upper grades were to 
be given men teachers it would only require that 
one-tenth of the teaching force be composed of 
men. 

These facts show that the question at issue is 
whether or not it is necessary for the City to offer 
much larger salaries to men teachers than to 
women in corresponding grades of position in 
order to attract the comparatively small number 
of men teachers required. 

That the wages now paid to men are at least 
sufficiently attractive to bring into the service of 
the City the proportion of men indicated in the 
above computation, is shown by the fact that they 
uow constitute about one-eighth of the entire 
teaching force, whereas, on the basis indicated 
above the welfare of the schools only demands that 
about one-tenth of the teachers be men. City 
Suprintendent Maxwell is quoted as having said 
in an address on May 21, 1909, in speaking of men 
teachers, " Ten per cent, is as much as we need." 

During the past six years — from 1905 to 1910, 
inclusive — 19,313 persons have taken the examina- 
tion for teachers' licenses in the elementary and 
high schools of this city. Of this number 4,731 
were men. In other words, although only one- 
eighth of the teachers are men, nearly one-quarter 
of the applicants for positions are men. This 

82 



shows that the supply of men applicants is rela- 
tively much greater than the supply of women 
applicants. 

Licenses were granted to 10,940 of the appli- 
cants who took the examinations. Nearly one-fifth 
of these successful candidates were men. Again 
the figures show that the supply of properly quali- 
fied applicants is greater than the demand for 
them, unless the proportion of men teachers in the 
schools is to be increased. 

Among those receiving licenses 7,694 teachers 
were appointed to positions. Among these teach- 
ers the men constituted nearly one-sixth of all. 
Once more it appears that during recent years the 
proportion of men teachers receiving appoint- 
ment is greater than the proportion of men in the 
system. This is in accord with the figures cited in 
the chapter entitled " Men and Women Teachers 
in the Elementary Day Schools," which show that 
the proportion of men teachers in both elementary 
and high schools has been increasing during recent 
years. The facts regarding the number of teach- 
ers of each sex applying for licenses, the number 
to whom licenses were granted and the number ap- 
pointed during the past six years are shown in the 
following table. These and the following data 
were furnished to the Commission through the 
courtesy of the Board of Examiners : 



83 



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84 



When the foregoing figures are reduced to per- 
centages, they show that licenses were granted to 
44 per cent, of the men applicants and to 61 per 
cent, of the women applicants. In other words, 
56 per cent, of the men failed as against only 39 
per cent, of the women. This may be explained 
on the grounds that the men were not so well pre- 
pared as the women, or by the fact that higher re- 
quirements are demanded of the men applicants 
for certain licenses than of the women. 

Of those who succeeded in obtaining their 
licenses 58 per cent, of the men received appoint- 
ment and 73 per cent, of the women. In other 
words, 42 per cent, of the men failed of appoint- 
ment as against only 27 per cent, of the women. 
This seems to show that after the teachers are duly 
qualified the demand for men teachers on the part 
of the Board of Education is less in proportion to 
the supply than is the demand for women teachers. 
The detailed percentages of applications granted 
and grantees appointed in the several grades of 
positions are shown in the following table : 



85 



Table Showing the Per Cent, of Applications for 
Licenses Granted and the Per Cent, of Gran- 
tees Appointed in New York From 1905 to 
1910, Inclusive. 

Per Cent. Per Cent, 
of Applica- of Grantees 
tions Granted. Appointed. 

i ' w A 1 

Men. Women. Men. Women. 

Elementary p r i n - 

cipals 43 24 71 76 

Assistants to prin- 
cipals 100 

Kindergarten 

Grade teachers 42 

Special elementary.. 42 

High school 45 

Total 44 61 58 73 

The data received from the Board of Examiners 
throw light on the claim which has repeatedly been 
made that there is a shortage of men applicants for 
high school positions and that unless the salaries 
of men in these positions are made much larger 
than those received by the women high school 
teachers, it will soon be impossible to secure a suffi- 
cient number of men applicants. 

86 



48 


36 


89 


56 


. . 


70 


68 


83 


81 


36 


72 


76 


49 


38 


29 



The facts as to the number of men and women 
applying for high school positions, the number to 
whom licenses were granted, and the number ap- 
pointed to positions during the two three-year 
periods from 1905 to 1907, inclusive, and 1908 to 
1910, inclusive, are as follows: 



87 



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88 



If there is in fact any such shortage of candi- 
dates of either sex as has been claimed, the figures 
entirely fail to reveal it. The number of men and 
women applicants in the second three-year period 
is almost double that of the first period. The 
number of men to whom licenses were granted 
has greatly increased, and the number of women 
has increased slightly. There has been little 
change in the number appointed. The apparent 
absence of any shortage of candidates is shown by 
the fact that in the second three-year period over 
1,400 men and over 1,500 women applied for posi- 
tions, and the number of each sex actually ap- 
pointed was only a little over 180. In other words, 
the supply of candidates was about eight times as 
great as the demand. 

The conclusion reached from all of the fore- 
going is that the law of supply and demand is not 
the controlling factor fixing the excess in wage 
paid to men teachers in New York City over the 
wages paid to women teachers in corresponding 
positions. This conclusion is reached because 

1. Teachers are secured from an eligible list, 
where the supply is limited by the frequency and 
character of the examinations. 

2. The supply of men candidates, the relative 
supply of successful candidates, and the propor- 
tion of men appointed are all greater than the 
present proportion of men in the service. 

89 



3. After the applicants are duly qualified, the 
Board of Education appoints to positions a larger 
percentage of the women candidates than it does 
of the men candidates. 



90 



CHAPTER VI.— SALARY FOR POSI- 
TION. 

The Need for Men Teachers. 

One of the first acts of the Commission was to 
address letters to the leading American educators, 
requesting them to state their opinion with respect 
to the necessity for employing men teachers. 
They were requested to state : 

1. Whether or not they believed that the public 
schools need men as teachers and principals. 

2. Whether or not they need them as teachers 
to train them as principals. 

3. In what grades and for children of what ages 
they need male teachers. 

4. What, if anything, a man teacher contributes 
that is not equally contributed by a woman 
teacher. 

5. If they believed women to be more efficient 
teachers than men, the grounds for that belief. 

These letters were sent to the presidents of uni- 
versities, principals of normal schools, heads of 
departments of education in universities, writers 
and lecturers on education, superintendents of city 
schools and school authorities in New York City. 
105 replies were received. Of these replies 100 
gave answers to all or some of the questions, 

91 



The first question, whether or not the public 
schools need men as teachers and principals, was 
answered in the affirmative in ninety-eight out of 
the 100 replies, and in the negative in one reply. 
It was unanswered in the remaining letter. The 
following are some typical answers to this ques- 
tion: 

" For both boys and girls — but especially 
for boys — there is need in the grammar 
grades and in the high school of positive in- 
fluences that are masculine in character, as 
well as of positive influences that are dis- 
tinctly feminine." — Elmer E. Brown, United 
States Commissioner of Education. 

" Boys from twelve to fifteen and probably 
girls ought to have the teaching of a man for 
at least part of the time." — David Snedden, 
Commissioner of Education for Massachu- 
setts. 

" I believe that the public schools need men 
as teachers and principals." — Walter E. 
Ranger, Commissioner of Public Schools for 
Rhode Island. 

" I believe about the worst crying need of 
our schools is more male teachers in the 
upper grades." — President G. Stanley Hall, 
of Clark University. 

" I would say that the educational work in 
the schools of the country is now suffering 

92 



from its desertion by men and its practical 
monopoly by women." — President J. G. 
Shurman, of Cornell University. 

" I am fully convinced that men teachers 
are indispensable in the high schools, and in 
the upper elementary grades are highly de- 
sirable." — Hugo Munsterburg, of Harvard 
University. 

" The public schools need men both as 
teachers and as principals and the need for 
some men in every large school begins as early 
as twelve years of age for both boys and 
girls."— Ex-President Charles W. Eliot, of 
Harvard University. 

" It is my opinion that men are highly nec- 
essary as teachers and principals in the public 
schools." — F. H. Beede, Superintendent of 
Schools, New Haven. 

" Undoubtedly it is desirable to have men 
teachers for boys above the age of thirteen or 
fourteen." — Stratton D. Brooks, Superin- 
tendent of Schools, Boston. 

" It is most advisable to employ some men 
teachers in the upper elementary grades." — 
J. M. Greenwood, Superintendent of Schools, 
Kansas City, Mo. 

" The elementary schools, in my judgment, 
need men as well as women, both as teachers 



93 



and as principals." — A. B. Poland, Superin- 
tendent of Schools, Newark. 

"If the child in the home needs the father 
as well as the mother for proper home-train- 
ing, then it needs the man as well as the 
woman in school for its proper school-train- 
ing." — M. G. Brumbaugh, Superintendent of 
Schools, Philadelphia. 
The second question was whether or not the 
schools need men teachers in order to train them to 
be principals. Fifty-seven of the answers were 
affirmative and five negative. In thirty-eight cases 
the question was not answered. 

The third question was in what grades the 
schools need men teachers and for children of 
what ages. Eighty-five replies were to the effect 
that men are needed for the upper elementary 
grades and the high school. Three persons an- 
swered that they are needed in all the grades, while 
one said that they are not needed at all. Eleven 
did not answer the question. 

The fourth question was what, if anything, a 
man teacher contributed that is not equally con- 
tributed by a woman teacher. One answer was, 
" Nothing desirable " ; two others said that the 
man teacher contributes nothing at all that is 
not equally contributed by the woman teacher. 
Twenty-three did not answer the question. The 
other seventy-four answers not only stated posi- 

94 



tively that the man teacher does contribute some- 
thing that is not equally contributed by the woman 
teacher, but attempted to specify. The trend of 
the answers may be judged from the following 
words and phrases given in answer to the ques- 
tion: 

Positive influences distinctly masculine in 

character. Masculinity. Man's viewpoint of 
life. Power. Elements of strength, of de- 
liberate judgment, of logical power, of execu- 
tive force. Positive convictions, practical 
sense, breadth of vision and sound judgment. 
Manly influence. Man's point of view on 
questions of civics, ethics and conduct. Vig- 
orous, aggressive and ambitious attitude 
toward life. Man's interest in mechanical 
contrivances, helping to develop the practical 
inventive faculty in boys. Man's interest in 
and understanding of, the fundamental prin- 
ciples of government and man's duties as a 
citizen. 
One of the most definite statements of the con- 
structive sort was from the pen of the Superin- 
tendent of Schools of the City of Holyoke, Massa- 
chusetts, who wrote: 

" A man teacher contributes a fairer and 
more just treatment of boys through man's 
better understanding of boy nature; an 
understanding based upon man's experience 

95 



as a boy; an understanding which a woman 
can never have simply because she is a 
woman." 
Another clear expression of a different point of 

view came from the Superintendent of Schools of 

Elizabeth, N. J., as follows : 

"I am strongly of the opinion that the 
presence of women as teachers of boys in the 
upper grammar grades and even in the first 
and second year of the high school, causes 
thousands of boys to become disgusted with 
and to leave the schools. Of my own knowl- 
edge many young men have been driven from 
school because of their intense dislike to being 
(using their own words) ' bossed by women.' 
* * * Indeed I am inclined to think that 
one reason for the evident contempt with 
which many business men look upon the public 
schools lies right here. Those men, many of 
them, were forced out of school because of 
their intense individualism, because they were 
strong, because they had reached an age 
where it was imperative that they be in- 
structed, directed, controlled and led by one 
of their own sex, and by a man larger and 
broader, both physically and mentally, than 
each youth felt himself to be." 
The final question of the five was in effect 

whether or not those answering, believed women to 

96 



be better teachers than men. This was answered 
by fifty-nine persons. Forty-one said that they 
believed that women were more efficient than men 
as teachers of the lower grades, and three con- 
sidered them more efficient in all grades. Eight 
said that they did not believe women to be more 
efficient teachers than men, and seven said that 
they were as efficient but not more so. Forty-one 
did not answer the question. 

The tabulation of the results of the inquiry 
shows, that while many of the correspondents left 
one or more of the questions unanswered, there is 
great unanimity of opinion expressed where an- 
swers are made. The results show that in general 
these educators hold that 

1. The schools do need men as teachers and 
principals ; 

2. They need them as teachers to train them to 
be principals; 

3. They need men teachers in the upper grades 
and in the high schools ; 

4. The qualities contributed by the man teacher 
that are not equally contributed by the woman 
teacher are distinctly masculine in character ; 

5. Women are superior to men as teachers of 
the lower grades. 



97 



" Equal Pay " Systems in Other Large Cities. 

The Commission has attempted to ascertain con- 
ditions in the largest cities of the country with 
respect to the practical working out of " equal 
pay " and " non-equal pay " systems of salary 
schedules for teachers. These conditions are by no 
means easy to ascertain for the reason that there 
is no uniformity of practice in the systems em- 
ployed by different cities to pay their teachers. 

In many cities " equal pay " — payment for posi- 
tion — maintains throughout the elementary schools 
but not in the high schools. Among these are 
Newark, Jersey City, Harrisburg and New 
Haven. This condition is similar to that maintain- 
ing in New York City, where salaries in many of 
the positions are regulated on an " equal pay " 
basis, whereas in other positions this is not so. 

Positions in New York City in Which 
Salaries are Regulated on an Equal Pay 
Basis. 
City superintendents. 
Associate city superintendents. 
District superintendents. 
Principals of high schools. 
Principals of training schools. 
Principals of model schools. 
Model teachers. 

Directors of kindergartens, cooking and sewing. 

98 



Teachers of cooking and sewing. 

Evening school principals, supervisors and 
teachers. 

Vacation school principals, supervisors and 
teachers. 

Vacation playground and recreation center 
principals, supervisors and teachers. 

Principals of truant schools. 

Principals of parental schools. 

Principals of schools for the deaf. 

Teachers of schools for the deaf. 

Instructors of classes for the blind. 

Another difficulty in ascertaining conditions, 
arises from the fact that some cities have no 
definite salary schedules, but fix the salary sepa- 
rately for each new individual engaged. Again, 
in many places certain positions are reserved by 
custom for men and others for women. 

After much correspondence it has been possible 
to secure data covering conditions in the fifty 
largest cities of the country outside of New York 
City. These cities have been classified as justly 
as possible in two groups, according as their salary 
schedules provide for " equal pay " or do not so 
provide. By an odd coincidence this classification 
puts twenty-five cities in each group, as follows : 



99 



Table Classifying the Fifty Largest Cities as 
Having cc Equal Pay " and " Non-equal 
Pay" Systems of Salary Schedules for 
Teachers, 1910. 



Equal Pay. 



Non-equal Pay. 



Chicago. 

St. Louis. 

Cleveland. 

Buffalo. 

San Francisco. 

Pittsburg. 

Milwaukee. 

Detroit. 

Washington. 

Louisville. 

Minneapolis. 

Indianapolis. 

Kansas City, Mo. 

St. Paul. 

Toledo. 

Denver. 

Columbia. 

Los Angeles. 

Fall River. 

Memphis. 

Omaha. 

Portland, Ore. 

Seattle. 

Nashville. 



Philadelphia. 

Boston. 

Baltimore. 

Cincinnati. 

New Orleans. 

Newark. 

Jersey City. 

Providence. 

Rochester. 

Worcester. 

New Haven. 

Syracuse. 

Paterson. 

St. Joseph. 

Scranton. 

Lowell. 

Cambridge. 

Atlanta. 

Albany. 

Grand Rapids. 

Richmond. 

Wilmington. 

Camden. 

Bridgeport. 



100 



Among the foregoing fifty cities ten of those 
in the " equal pay " group and fourteen of those 
in the " non-equal pay " group employ no men 
teachers at all in their elementary schools. Many 
others employ fewer than half a dozen. This fact 
makes it impossible to gather from the data any 
valuable conclusions 1 concerning the relative effect 
of the two systems of payment in attracting and 
retaining men teachers in the elementary schools. 

However, the facts have been ascertained and 
tabulated as to the number of men and women 
high school teachers, and men and women element- 
ary principals, and the average salaries received 
by each group in the two classes of cities. All of 
these data are drawn from the records of the year 
1905. The results are as follows: 



101 



Table Giving Data as to the Number of Men and 
Women High School Teachers and Element- 
ary Principals and Average Salaries Meceived 
by them Under "Equal Pay" and "Non- 
equal Pay " Salary Schedules in the Fifty 
Largest Cities in 1905. 

In Non- 
In Equal equal 

Pay Pay 
Cities. Cities. 

Number of men high school 

teachers 873 521 

Number of women high school 

teachers 1,265 885 

Number of men high school 

teachers per each 100 women 

teachers 69 58 

Average salary of men high 

school teachers $1,264 $1,707 

Average salary of women high 

teachers $1,054 $964 

Amount received by average 

man for each $100 received 

by average woman teacher. . $120 $177 

Number of men elementary 

principals 540 449 



102 



In Non- 
In Equal equal 

Pay Pay 
Cities. Cities. 



Number of women elementary 

principals 870 707 

Number of men elementary 
principals for each 100 
women principals 62 63 

Average salary of men ele- 
mentary principals $1,697 $1,878 

Average salary of women ele- 
mentary principals $1,261 $964 

Amount received by average 
man for each $100 received 
by average woman principal $184 



Referring to the third line in the table, the 
somewhat surprising fact is brought to light that 
in " equal pay " cities there are sixty-nine men 
high school teachers for every 100 women, whereas 
in the " non-equal pay " cities there are only fifty- 
eight. In other words, men teachers are propor- 
tionately more numerous in the high schools of the 
" equal pay " cities than in the " non-equal pay " 
cities. 

Referring to the next two lines we find that 
even in cities which ostensibly have systems of 

103 



" equal pay," the average salary of the men high 
school teachers is considerably higher than that of 
the women teachers. The explanation seems to be 
that although the representatives of the two sexes 
are eligible for the different positions, men are in 
practice appointed to the more lucrative ones. The 
result is that even in the " equal pay " cities, the 
salaries of the men teachers are 20 per cent, higher 
than are those of the women. 

The inequality between the salaries of the two 
sexes is very much greater in the " non-equal pay " 
cities. Here we find that the average man high 
school teacher receives $1,707 per annum, whereas 
the average woman receives slightly less than 
$1,000. The average salaries of the men are 77 
per cent, higher than those of the women. The 
men in the " non-equal pay " cities are better paid 
than the men in tne " equal pay " cities, whereas 
the women are not quite so well paid as those in 
the " equal pay " cities. 

Referring now to the second section of the table, 
we find that somewhat similar conditions maintain 
among elementary school principals with the not- 
able difference that men principals are propor- 
tionately equally numerous under the two systems 
of salaries. Here again we find that even in the 
" equal pay " cities, the men in actual practice re- 
ceive distinctly higher salaries than the women, the 
difference amounting to 34 per cent, in favor of 

104 



the men. In the case of the " non-equal pay " 
cities, the men receive on the average salaries which 
are more than twice as high as those paid to women 
principals. Once more, as in the case of the high 
school teachers, it is noteworthy that the men re- 
ceive higher salaries in " non-equal pay " cities 
than they do in " equal pay " cities, and the women 
receive lower ones. 

The conclusions which it seems safe to draw 
from the foregoing study are the following : 

1. A large part of all of the largest cities in the 
country employ no men teachers in their element- 
ary schools. This is true in cities having " non- 
equal pay " systems as in those having " equal 
pay " systems. 

2. Cities having " equal pay " systems have pro- 
portionately as many men employed as high school 
teachers and elementary principals as do cities 
having " non-equal pay " systems. 

3. Even under " equal pay " systems women 
high school teachers and principals on the average 
receive lower salaries than do men. 

4. In general men are paid higher salaries and 
women are paid lower salaries in " non-equal pay " 
systems than they are in " equal pay " systems. 

" Equal Pay for Equal Work." 

The struggle of the women teachers of New 
York City for " equal pay for equal work " has 

105 



been waged for nearly half a century. In July, 
1862, Miss Susan B. Anthony offered a resolution 
at a session of the New York Teachers' Associa- 
tion to the effect that " Justice requires that the 
amount of compensation should not be regulated 
by sex, but by the amount of service rendered." 
The agitation for the recognition of this principle 
has been revived from time to time ever since, and 
has been particularly active since the passing of 
the Davis Law in 1900. 

The general interpretation of the slogan " equal 
pay for equal work " given by its advocates, is that 
there should be but one salary for one and the 
same position. Its particular interpretation is that 
men and women should be paid the same wage 
when employed in the same position. 

The validity of the plea seems to depend on the 
interpretation of the term " equal work." If this 
is considered in the case in point as being synony- 
mous with " work of the same value to the school 
sj^stem," we hold that the justice of the demand is 
clear because the City as employer and as trustee 
of the people's money is not justified in paying one 
person a greater wage than it pays a second 
person, unless the services of the first are worth 
more to it than the services of the second. 

If this principle is valid, the City is not justified 
in paying a man more than it pays a woman unless 
the services of the man are worth more than the 

106 



services of the woman. The practical question 
then which confronts us is when, if ever, are the 
services of a man worth more than the services of a 
woman when both are employed in positions of the 
same grade. 

The answer to this question, arrived at by the 
Commission, is that the services of a man are worth 
more than the services of a woman employed in a 
position of the same grade, only when the man's 
masculine traits as such possess a money value. 

The next question is whether or not this condi- 
tion maintains in the teaching positions, and if so, 
where? The judgment of the Commission is that 
such a condition does maintain in certain of the 
teaching positions, and does not in others. It holds 
that the positions where this condition does main- 
tain are those where the training and teaching of 
the older boys are involved. 

As reviewed in the section entitled " The Need 
for Men Teachers," the Commission has secured 
opinions from more than 100 of the leading edu- 
cators of America as to the need for men teachers 
in elementary schools. The practically unanimous 
conviction of these experts is that men teachers 
are necessary for the proper training of the older 
boys and that they are necessary because of their 
masculine traits. The members of the Commis- 
sion are unanimously in accord with this opinion, 
holding that the best interests of our educational 

107 



system demand that there shall be in the schools 
a sufficient number of men teachers so that every 
boy may come under the influence of a man in- 
structor before completing his school course. 

At the present time the men teachers in New 
York are mostly employed in teaching boys' 
classes in the upper grades of the elementary 
schools and in the high schools. In order to retain 
men teachers for these grades they must be paid 
higher salaries than it is necessary to pay satisfac- 
tory women teachers of girls of corresponding 
grades, because they can earn more in other occu- 
pations or in the teaching profession in other 
localities. 

The Commission proposes that this situation be 
met by paying larger salaries for the teaching of 
boys in the upper grades and high schools than for 
the teaching of girls and the younger boys, men 
being preferably employed in these positions. But 
should it be necessary to employ women, they 
should receive the same salary as men. In the 
same way a man assigned to the teaching of girls 
would receive the same salary as a woman doing 
the same work. 

Under this plan teachers of special subjects 
would be assigned to positions and paid according 
to the work done, not according to sex. For ex- 
ample, teachers of physical training might be 
grouped in two classes, which might be designated 

108 



as "Class A" and "Class B." Teachers of 
" Class A " would be teachers able to conduct 
classes in such subjects as folk dancing, corrective 
gymnastics, games and organized play, while 
teachers of " Class B " would, in addition to the 
above, be required to demonstrate their ability to 
teach classes in running, swimming, jumping, 
football, baseball, boxing and competitive athletics. 
Here the differentiation of salary would be on the 
basis of work done, not on that of sex. 

This brings us to the consideration of the second 
class of positions, or those in which, according to 
the judgment of the Commission, the men's 
masculine traits as such do not possess a money 
value. Chief among these positions are the prin- 
cipalships of schools. These positions are largely 
administrative in nature. At the present time the 
larger schools and those containing all the grades 
from the lowest to the highest are largely in charge 
of men principals, while the smaller ones and 
those having the lower grades only are largely 
under women principals. 

In corroboration of the opinion of the Commis- 
sion in this matter it is important to note that in 
his Tenth Annual Report Superintendent Max- 
well wrote as follows: " With regard to women 
principals it must be quite clear to any one familiar 
with the Board of Examiners, that it is quite as 
difficult to obtain women principals of the requisite 

109 



scholastic and professional attainments and execu- 
tive ability as it is to obtain men principals. On 
this ground I recommend that as soon as money is 
available the salaries of women principals be equal- 
ized with those of men." 

In the opinion of the Commission, the factor 
which should decide the amount of salary paid in 
these positions should be the size of the school, not 
the sex of the principal. Principals of large 
schools containing many classrooms should be paid 
more than principals of small schools. If women 
are found who possess administrative, executive 
and supervisory qualities in such high measure that 
the educational authorities deem them best fitted to 
have in charge the large schools, they should be 
paid the corresponding salaries, but if they are 
better fitted for work in the smaller schools, they 
should be assigned to them and paid accordingly. 
The same rules should apply to the men. In each 
case the individual best fitted for the position 
should be assigned to it and paid accordingly. 
This practice is now followed in the case of the 
New York high schools. 

To summarize : 

The Commission approves of the payment of 
salaries on the basis of position. 

1. Salaries paid for the teaching of boys in the 
upper grades and high schools should be higher 
than those paid for the teaching of girls and the 

110 



younger boys, and should be sufficiently high to 
attract and hold men teachers. 

2. Salaries paid to the teachers of special sub- 
jects should be regulated according to the kind of 
work done. 

3. The salaries of principals of schools should 
be graduated according to the size of the school. 



Ill 



PART III. 

CONCLUSIONS, SCHEDULES, COST 
COMPUTATIONS AND RE- 
COMMENDATIONS. 



CHAPTER VII.— CONCLUSIONS. 

1. The present multiplicity of salary schedules 
constitutes a most fertile source of discontent, dis- 
couragement and administrative difficulty. This 
condition should be removed by reducing the 
schedules to the lowest practicable number. Our 
proposed schedules are presented with this end in 
view; they number thirty-nine as contrasted with 
the present list of eighty-five salary schedules. 

2. Conditions of justice and of expediency lead 
us to the conclusion that salaries should be based 
on position. This can be brought about without 
the reduction of present salaries, without reducing 
the number of men employed, and without in- 
creased cost. Although we find that numerous in- 
creases are desirable, a salary based on position 
does not of itself entail increased expense. It con- 
sists in defining the work to be done for a given 
salary and assigning teachers to do that kind of 
work. The change is one of nomenclature, not one 
of salary rates. The plan which we recommend to 
bring about payment on the basis of position with- 
out increased cost is, in brief, as follows : 

a. One salary schedule for the payment of 
teachers of all children from the kindergarten 
through the sixth grade and of girls in the seventh 

115 



and eighth grades. This schedule to provide for 
salaries substantially equal to those now paid to 
women teachers in the elementary grades. 

b. One salary schedule for the payment of 
teachers of boys in the seventh and eighth grades. 
This schedule to provide for salaries substantially 
equal to those now paid to men teachers in the 
elementary schools. 

c. Salary schedules for the payment of element- 
ary principals graduated according to the size of 
the school. 

d. Salaiy schedules for teachers of special 
branches based on the kind of work done. In those 
branches where some of the teachers do work of a 
supervisory nature, salary schedules should be 
divided so as to make possible additional remuner- 
ation for this more difficult work. This situation 
occurs in the cases of teachers of music, physical 
training and sewing and inspectors of public school 
athletics. 

e. One salary schedule for the payment of 
teachers of girls in high schools. This to provide 
for salaries substantially equal to those now paid 
to women teachers in high schools. 

/. One salary schedule for the payment of 
teachers of boys in high schools. This to provide 
for salaries substantially equal to those now paid 
to men teachers in high schools. 

116 



3. Since the adoption of the present salary 
schedules there has been a sharp advance in the 
cost of living and a general increase in teachers' 
salaries in other cities. These conditions lead us to 
believe that teachers' salaries in this city should be 
increased, especially in the following cases : 

a. Since our investigations have convinced us 
that the beginning wage of $600 per annum now 
paid in the elementary schools is not a reasonable 
living wage for a public school teacher in this city, 
we believe that an increase in those salaries to 
$720 is of the first importance. 

b. The salaries now paid to clerks or additional 
teachers appear to be inadequate in amount and 
regulated according to an unfair system. We 
believe that they should be increased, that they 
should be put on an annual basis and that increases 
should be given as rewards for continued efficient 
services. 

c. The welfare of the school children rather 
than financial economy should be the consideration 
of first importance in the appointment of teach- 
ers. For this reason we believe that the wage paid 
to substitute teachers should be so advanced that 
it will no longer be possible to effect any consider- 
able saving by employing the services of substi- 
tutes rather than those of regular teachers. 

d. The salaries paid to high school teachers in 
other cities are more nearly equal to those paid in 

117 



New York than are the salaries paid in other posi- 
tions. This is notably true in the cases of the 
neighboring cities, Newark and Jersey City, where 
the high school teachers are now receiving nearly 
as much as those in our city, and in some cases 
more. For these reasons, we believe that there 
should be general increases in the salaries of high 
school teachers. 

4. Simplicity and ease of administration, as well 
as increased efficiency on the part of teachers 
would, in our opinion, be promoted through in- 
creased use of the bonus plan for paying teachers 
for special and additional services. Moreover, this 
would avoid increasing the number of schedules. 

5. In those schedules which provide for the pay- 
ment of teachers entering the service of the City 
for the first time, we have throughout recom- 
mended that the initial salary remain unchanged 
during the probationary period of three years. 
Our purpose in making this recommendation is to 
provide a scheme of salary schedules which shall 
avoid the payment of increments to a large number 
of teachers who leave the service in the first three 
years, and in connection with this feature, we be- 
lieve that there should be enforced a more efficient 
system for thoroughly testing candidates during 
the probationary period and dismissing from the 
service those whose work is unsatisfactorv. 



118 



6. We have purposely recommended no in- 
creases or changes in salary schedules for city, 
associate and district superintendents, members of 
the Board of Examiners, principals of high and 
training schools, principals and teachers of evening 
and vacation schools, vacation playgrounds and 
recreation centres, and certain positions in schools 
for the deaf, blind and truant. In all of these 
positions, we believe the salary schedules now in 
force should remain unchanged. 



119 



CHAPTER VIII.— SCHEDULES, PRES- 
ENT AND PROPOSED. 

Superintendents and Examiners. 

Schedule 
Number. 

Suj)erintendents — Present schedule : 
City Superintendent, $10,000 per 

annum. 
Associate City Superintendent, 

$6,500 per annum. 
District Superintendent, $5,000 
per annum. 
Member Board of Examiners — Pres- 
ent schedule: $6,000 per annum. 
1, 2, 8, 4. Proposed schedule: No change. 

Elementary Schools (Regular Teachers). 

Schedule 

Number. 

la. Principals (Women) — Present 
schedule: $1,750, increasing to $2,- 
500 in three increments of $250. 

lb. Principals (Men) — Present sched- 
ule: $2,750, increasing to $3,500 
in three increments of $250. 
120 



Schedule 
Number. 



Ila. Principals (Women) — P resent 
schedule: In schools from six to 
twelve classes and women assistant 
principals $1,400, increasing to $1,- 
in two increments of $100. 



lib. Principals (Men) — Present sched- 
ule: In schools from six to twelve 
classes and men assistant principals 
$2,100, increasing to $2,400 in two 
increments of $150. 

III. Elementary Teachers (Women) — 

Present schedule: In grades from 
kindergarten to 6B, inclusive, $600, 
increasing to $1,240 in sixteen in- 
crements of $40. 

IV. Elementary Teachers (Women) — 

Present schedule: In grades from 
7 A to 8A, inclusive, $600, increas- 
ing to $1,820 in fifteen increments 

of $48. 

V. Elementary Teachers (Women) — 
Present schedule: In grade 8B 
$986, increasing to $1,440 in six in- 
crements of $84. 



121 



Schedule 
Number. 

VI. Elementary Teachers (Men) — Pres- 
ent schedule: In all grades below 
8B $900, increasing to $2,160 in 
twelve increments of $105. 
VII. Elementary Teachers (Men) — Pres- 
ent schedule: In grade 8B $1,500, 
increasing to $2,400 in six incre- 
ments of $150. 

Proposed schedules — 

5. Principals of schools one to ten 

rooms $2,000, increasing to $2,- 
500 in five increments of $100. 

6. Principals of schools of eleven to 

thirty rooms $2,500, increasing 
to $3,000 in five increments of 
$100. 

7. Principals of schools of thirty-one to 

fifty rooms $2,500, increasing to 
$3,500 in five increments of $200. 

8. Principals of schools of fifty-one 

rooms or more $3,000, increasing 
to $4,000 in five increments of $200. 
.... Assistants to Principals — Proposed 
bonus: Regular grade teachers 
appointed annually and receiving 
a bonus of $300 over regular grade 
salaries. 

122 



Schedule 
Number. 

9. Teachers of all classes from the kin- 
dergarten through the sixth grade 
and of classes of more than 50 per 
cent, girls in the seventh and eighth 
grades $720 for the first three 
years, increasing to $1,440 in fif- 
teen increments of $48. 

10. Teachers of classes of more than 50 
per cent, boys in the seventh and 
eighth grades and teachers of shop 
work $900 for the first three years, 
increasing to $2,400 in four incre- 
ments of $125. 
Teachers of ungraded, C, D, E, crip- 
pled and blind classes an annual 
bonus of $100. 

Elementary Schools (Teachers of Special 
Branches). 
Schedule 
Number. 

XVIa. Music and Drawing (Women) — 
Present schedule: Women teach- 
ers of music and drawing $1,000, 
increasing to $1,400 in four incre- 
ments of $100. 



123 



Schedule 
Number. 

XVIb. 



XVIIa. 



XVIIb. 



XVIII. 



XlXa. 



Music and Drawing (Men) — Pres- 
ent schedule: Men teachers of 
music and drawing $1,200, increas- 
ing to $1,600 in four increments of 
$100. 

Physical Training (Women) — Pres- 
ent schedule: Women teachers of 
physical training $900, increasing 
to $1,200 in three increments of 
$100. 

Physical Training (Men) — Present 
schedule: Men teachers of physical 
training $1,200, increasing to $1,- 
600 in four increments of $100. 

Cooking and Sewing — Present sched- 
ule: Teachers of cooking and sew- 
ing $900, increasing to $1,200 in 
three increments of $100. 

French, German, Spanish and Italian 
(Women) — Present schedule: 
Women teachers of French, Ger- 
man, Spanish and Italian $1,000, 
increasing to $1,400 in four incre- 
ments of $100. 



124 



Schedule 
Number. 

XlXb. French, German, Spanish and Italian 
(Men) — Present schedule: Men 
teachers of French, German, Span- 
ish and Italian $1,200, increasing 
to $1,600 in four increments of 
$100. 

Proposed schedules — 

11. Teachers of music, physical train- 

ing, drawing and sewing and in- 
spectors of public school ath- 
letics : 

Grade A — $1,000 for three years, 
increasing to $1,600 in six incre- 
ments of $100. 

Grade B— $1,600 for three years, 
increasing to $2,400 in eight in- 
crements of $100. 

12. Teachers of cooking and foreign 

languages $1,000 for three years, 
increasing to $1,600 in six incre- 
ments of $100. 



125 



Elementary Schools (Directors of Special 
Branches). 
Schedule 
Number. 

Xlla. Directors — Present schedule: Men 
directors of music, manual training 
and drawing, and physical training 
$3,500, increasing to $4,000 in five 
increments of $100. 

Xllb. Directors — Present schedule : 
Women directors of music, manual 
training and drawing, and physical 
training $2,500, increasing to $3,- 
000 in five increments of $100. 

XII la. Assistant Directors — Present sched- 
ule: Men assistant directors of 
music, manual training and draw- 
ing, and physical training $2,500, 
increasing to $3,000 in five incre- 
ments of $100. 

XI I lb. Assistant Directors — -Present sched- 
ule: Women assistant directors of 
music, manual training and draw- 
ing, and physical training $2,500, 
increasing to $3,000 in five incre- 
ments of $100. 



126 



Schedule 
Number. 
XIIIc. Inspectors of Public School Athletics 
— Present schedule: Men inspec- 
tors of public school athletics $2,- 
000 per annum. 
XI lid. Inspectors of Public School Athletics 
— Present schedule: Women in- 
spectors of public school athletics 
$1,500 per annum. 
Xllle. Assistant Inspectors of Public School 
Athletics— Present schedule: Men 
and women assistant inspectors of 
public school athletics $1,200 per 
annum. 
XIV. Directors of Kindergartens — Present 
schedule: $2,500, increasing to $3,- 
000 in five increments of $100. 
XV. Directors of Cooking and Sewing — 
Present schedule: Directors of 
cooking and sewing $2,500, increas- 
ing to $3,000 in five increments of 
$100. 
Proposed schedules — 
13. Directors' of music, manual train- 
ing and drawing, and physical 
training $3,500, increasing to 
$4,000 in five increments of $100. 
127 



Schedule 
Number. 

14. 



Schedule 
Number. 

Villa, 
and 

VHIb. 



15. 
IXa. 



IXb. 



Directors of kindergarten, cooking 
and sewing, and assistant direc- 
tors of music, manual training 
and drawing and physical train- 
ing $2,500, increasing to $3,000 
in five increments of $100. 

High Schools. 

Principals — Present schedule: In 
schools having twenty-five or more 
teachers $5,000 per year. In schools 
having less than twenty-five teach- 
ers $8,500 per year. 

Proposed schedule: No change. 

Junior Teachers (Women) — Present 
schedule: Female junior or substi- 
tute teacher, female laboratory or 
library assistant, or female clerk 
$700, increasing to $1,000 in six in- 
crements of $50. 

Junior Teachers (Men) — Present 
schedule: Male junior or substi- 
tute teacher or male laboratory or 
library assistant or male clerk 
$900, increasing to $1,200 in six in- 
crements of $50. 
128 



Schedule 

Number. 

IXc. Assistant Teachers (Women)— Pres- 
ent schedule: $1,100, increasing to 
$1,900 in ten increments of $80. 

IXd. Assistant Teachers (Men)— Present 
schedule: $1,300, increasing to $2,- 
400 in ten increments of $110. 

IXe. First Assistants (Women)— Present 
schedule: $2,000, increasing to $2,- 
500 in five increments of $100. 

IXf. First Assistants (Men)— Present 
schedule: $2,500, increasing to $3,- 
000 in five increments of $100, 

16. Proposed schedule: Teachers of 

classes of more than 50 per cent, 
boys $1,500 for three years, in- 
creasing to $3,000 in twelve incre- 
ments of $125. 

17. Proposed schedule: Teachers of 

classes of more than 50 per cent, 
girls $1,000 for three years, in- 
creasing to $2,500 in twelve incre- 
ments of $125. 
Proposed bonus: Chairman of De- 
partment, regular teacher's salary 
plus bonus of $200. 
129 



Schedule 
Number. 

.... Proposed bonus: Teachers in charge 

of annex, regular teacher's salary 

plus bonus of $500. 

18. Proposed schedule: Clerical and 

library assistants $900 for three 
years, increasing to $1,200 in three 
increments of $100. 

19. Proposed schedule: Laboratory as- 

sistants same schedule as teachers. 

Training Schools. 
Schedule 
Number. 

X. Principals — Present schedule: Same 
as for high schools. 

20. Proposed schedule: No change. 
XIa. Teachers — Present schedule : Library 
Xlb. assistants, women and men; assist- 
Xld. ant teachers, women and men; and 
Xle. first assistants, women and men; 
Xlf. are now paid the same salaries as 
Xlg. the corresponding teachers in high 

school. This includes laboratory 
assistants. 

21. Proposed schedule: Same as pro- 

posed schedules for high schools 
plus an annual bonus of $100 in all 
positions. 

130 



Model Schools. 
Schedule 
Number. 

Xa. Principals — Present schedule: $2,- 
250, increasing to $3,000 in three 
increments of $250. 

22. Proposed schedule: Same salary as 

principal of elementary school of 
thirty-one to fifty rooms. 
XIc. Model and Critic Teacher — Present 
schedule: $1,000, increasing to $1,- 
500 in five increments of $100. 

23. Proposed schedule: Same as for 

teachers in elementary schools plus 
an annual bonus of $100. 

Special Schools. 
Schedule 
Number. 

XX. Evening Schools — Present schedule: 

Per 
Evening. 
Principals of high schools $7 00 
Assistants in high schools 5 00 
Laboratory assistants in 

high schools 3 00 

Principals of elementary 

schools 5 00 

Supervisors of special 

subjects 6 00 

131 



Schedule Per 

Number. Evening. 

Assistants in elementary 

schools 3 00 

General assistants and 

heads of departments. 3 00 
Teachers in charge of ele- 
mentary schools 4 00 

Junior teachers in high 

schools 3 00 

XXI. Vacation Schools — Present schedule: 

Per Day. 

Supervisors' $6 00 

Principals 4 50 

Teachers 3 00 

Kindergartens 3 00 

Kindergarten helpers. ... 1 50 

XXII. Vacation Playgrounds and Recrea- 
tion Centers — Present schedule: 

Per Day. 

Supervisors $6 00 

Per 

Session. 

Principals' $4 00 

Teachers 2 50 

Assistant teachers 1 75 

Teachers of swimming. . 2 00 

Librarians (playgrounds) 1 75 

132 



Schedule 
Number. 



XXIII. 



XXIV. 



XXV. 



XXVI. 



XXVII. 



Per 
Session. 
Librarians (recreation 

centers) 2 50 

Pianists (playgrounds).. 1 75 

Pianists (recreation 

centers) 2 00 

Inspectors of Playgrounds and Rec- 
reation Centers — Present schedule: 
$1,500, increasing to $1,750 in five 
increments of $50. 

Principals of Truant Schools — Pres- 
ent schedule: Principal of a truant 
school if boarded and lodged $1,- 
800, increasing to $2,100 in three 
increments of $100. 

Principals of Parental Schools — 
Present schedule: Principal of the 
parental school if boarded and 
lodged $2,700, increasing to $3,000 
in three increments of $100. 

Teachers in Truant Schools — Present 
schedule: Men teachers in truant 
schools $900, increasing to $1,800 
in twelve increments of $75. 

Principals of Schools for Deaf — 
Present schedule: $2,250, increas- 
ing to $3,000 in three increments of 
$250. 

133 



Schedule 
Number. 

XXVIII. 



XXIX. 



XXXa. 



XXXb. 



XXXIa. 



XXXIb. 



24. 
25. 



Teachers in Schools for Deaf — Pres- 
ent schedule: $800, increasing to 
$1,500 in seven increments of $100. 

Inspectors of Classes for Blind — 
Present schedule: $1,800, increas- 
ing to $2,400 in six increments of 
$100. 

Principals of Vocational Schools 
(Women) — Present schedule: $3,- 
000, increasing to $3,500 in two in- 
crements of $250. 

Principals of Vocational Schools 
(Men) — Present schedule: $3,500, 
increasing to $4,000 in two incre- 
ments of $250. 

Teachers in Vocational Schools 
( Women ) — P resent schedule : 
$900, increasing to $1,575 in nine 
increments of $75. 

Teachers in Vocational Schools 
(Men) — Present schedule : $1,200, 
increasing to $2,190 in nine incre- 
ments of $110. 

Proposed schedules — 

Evening Schools — No change. 
Vacation Schools — No change. 
134 



Schedule 
Number. 

26. Vacation Playgrounds and Recrea- 

tion Centers — No change. 

27. Inspectors of Playgrounds and 

Recreation Centers — No change. 

28. Principals of Truant Schools — No 

change. 

29. Principals of Parental Schools — 

No change. 

30. Teachers in Truant Schools — 

Present schedule to apply to 
both sexes. 

31. Principals of Schools for Deaf — 

No change. 

32. Teachers in Schools for Deaf —No 

change. 

33. Inspectors' of Classes for Blind — 

No change. 

34. Principals of Vocational Schools — 

Same as principals of high 
schools. 

35. Teachers of Vocational Schools — 

Same as teachers of boys in 
seventh and eighth grades of ele- 
mentary schools. 



135 



Substitutes. 
Present schedule — Per Day. 

Ungraded classes $3 00 

Elementary teachers 

(men) 3 00 

Elementary teachers 

(women) 2 50 

Teachers of music, draw- 
ing, physical training 
and shop work (men) . 4 00 

Teachers of music, draw- 
ing, physical training 
and shop work 
(women) 3 50 

Teachers of cooking and 
foreign languages 
(men) 3 00 

Teachers of cooking and 
foreign languages 
(women) 2 50 

Per 

Evening. 

Teachers in evening high 

schools $3 00 

Teachers in evening ele- 
mentary schools 2 00 

Teachers in evening high 

schools (trade) 5 00 

136 



Schedule 

Number. Per Day. 

Teachers in vacation 

schools 1 50 

Teachers in truant and 

parental schools 3 00 

Teachers in vocational 

schools (men) 5 00 

Teachers in vocational 

schools (women) 4 00 

Proposed schedules — 

36. Ungraded, elementary, 

music, drawing, phys- 
ical training and shop 
work, cooking and 
foreign languages, 
evening high schools, 
truant and parental 
schools $4 00 

37. Evening elementary and 

vacation schools 2 00 

38. Evening high schools 

(trade) and vocational 

schools 5 00 



137 



Clerks or Additional Teachers. 

Schedule 
Number. 

Present schedule: $3 per day. 

39. Proposed schedule: $600, increasing 
to $1,000 in eight increments of 
$50. 



138 



CHAPTER IX.— ESTIMATED COST. 

We have estimated the more important items 
in the increased cost of the proposed schedules, 
using as a basis the number of persons on the pay- 
roll in each position in May, 1909. This is the 
same basis on which the Board of Education Bud- 
get for the year 1910 was estimated. In all places 
where doubt has arisen as to the interpretation of 
our proposed schedules, we have based our esti- 
mate on the more expensive interpretation. 

It is impossible to state what new assignments 
of teachers to positions might be made by the 
Board of Education if our new schedules were 
adopted, and hence impossible to estimate exactly 
how much of the increases would be received by 
women and how much by men. However, we pre- 
sent the following figures as being the closest esti- 
mate which we have been able to make of the total 
increased cost and of its distribution among the 
representatives of the two sexes. The estimate for 
the elementary schools is based on the assumption 
that men teachers now in grades below the seventh, 
will be transferred to work in the seventh and 
eighth grades. 



139 



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142 



CHAPTER X— RECOMMENDATIONS. 

The Commission submits for the consideration 
of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment the 
following recommendations : 

The amendment of section 1091 of the Greater 
New York Charter so as to secure 

1. No decrease in present salaries; 

2. Certain increases in minimum and maximum 
salaries and in annual increments ; 

3. Reduction in the number of salary schedules ; 

4. Salary for position. 

C. L. Rossiter, 
Lee K. Frankel, 
Leonard P. Ayres, 
James M. Gifford, 
(Mrs. Frank H. Cothren) Marion B. Cothren. 



143 



N 



